The Pizza Boy
by lovingchoco
Summary: Modern-day AU - When Katniss gets her pizza delivered by a boy with bright blue eyes and blonde hair, she can't stop the blush spreading across her cheeks.
1. Chapter 1

"I just know that if I was Bella, I'd totally tap Jacob," Johanna says, earning a nod from Madge. I laugh at Johanna's bluntness.

"But Edward's so romantic, Johanna! He waited for her for centuries!" Annie gushes.

"Yeah, but have you _seen_ that body? Sweet Jesus, Edward could be showering me in love and I'd still choose Jacob," Johanna argues. Annie just rolls her eyes.

Today it was my turn to host our weekly sleepovers. Prim was sleeping over at her friends' house, Rue, and my mother had a late shift at the hospital, so we were all alone.

"When is that pizza coming?" Madge groans, rubbing her belly. I chuckle and tell her it should be here soon. We watch the movie again, and Johanna and Madge sigh every time Jacob is shirtless- which is a lot of times. After what feels like ages, the doorbell finally rings. I jump up and open the front door, my eyes widening when I see bright blue eyes looking at me. The boy was wearing a cap, but you could see blond, damp hair sticking out from underneath it. With wide shoulders and muscled arms, he extends the pizza box towards me.

"Hi, that would be 13,50 please," the boy smiles, and I feel my heart beat quicker and quicker. I suddenly feel very self conscious about the spotty pajama pants I'm wearing. A loud bang of thunder brings me back to reality and I smile back.

"Uh, yeah, sure," I say, grabbing the money from my pocket. After a few seconds I realize it's not there. _Shit_.

"Uh..," I say, the box in the pizza boy's hands getting wetter and wetter by the second, "I think I left my money inside, can you give me a second?" I say. Then I realize he'll get soaked if he has to wait outside. "Why don't you wait inside?"

He gives me another heart-wrenching smile and nods, stepping past me. I walk into the living room and he follows me. Johanna looks up and whistles.

"Well hi there handsome," she smirks. Madge and Annie burst out laughing and the boy's cheeks go a light pink.

"Um, hi.." he says.

"Have you seen the money I had left out for the pizza anywhere?" I ask the girls. They all shake their heads and I sigh, running a hand through my hair.

"Oh, take your time, you're my last order for tonight anyway," blue-eyes says. I give him a small smile and look around.

"So why is a guy like _you_ working as a pizza delivery boy?" Madge asks. The pizza boy smiles.

"I need the money. Proper painting supplies cost quite a lot, you know. Plus, my parents own the pizzeria," he replies.

"You're an artist?" Annie asks.

He chuckles, a pink color spreading across his cheeks again, and says, "Well, I wouldn't call myself an _artist_. But I paint a lot."

Johanna and Madge look at each other and nod in approval. I roll my eyes and look under the Elle's and Vogue's spread across the table. The pizza boy puts the box on the table and takes off his cap, revealing a head of blonde, curly hair which makes you want to run your hands through it.

_Wait, what?_

I shake my head and tell the girls to stand up and help me look.

"Twilight, really? There are millions of good movies out there, and you watch Twilight?" the boy smirks teasingly. I laugh.

"It's their favorite movie," I explain.

"And you don't like it?" he asks.

"Well I'd be lying if I said I didn't like the love triangle thing..," I murmur. He chuckles, cutely, and then smiles at me again.

"So I take it you're a romantic soul?" he says. Johanna snorts.

"Romantic, my ass. I don't think Katniss even knows what romantic means," she says. I glare at her, but she just goes on. "She had one boyfriend, a year ago. He was her best friend for four years before that. And the relationship only lasted for a month. So yeah, I wouldn't really call Katniss a _romantic soul_," Johanna snickers.

"Maybe _Katniss_ just needs someone to turn her into a romantic soul, then," the boy says softly, staring right into my eyes with a small smile on his face. My mouth opens slightly but I can't think of anything to say. I can feel Johanna staring at both of us, probably with raised eyebrows.

"Found it!" Madge yells triumphantly. She skips over and hands me the money. Blue-eyes stands up and I give him fifteen bucks.

"You can keep the change," I say softly. He smiles and thanks me. I walk him to the door and watch as he climbs onto his Vespa.

"Enjoy your pizza, and have a nice night," he grins. He waves once and then rides off. I walk back into the living room and find Johanna, Annie and Madge have already grabbed a slice each. I grab a slice as well and sit next to them.

"So what's with the flushed cheeks?" Johanna smirks. I raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on, he was hot, you can't blame Katniss for blushing," Madge says.

"Yeah, and did you see the eye-contact they had?" Annie goes on, pointing a thumb at me, "the sexual tension was unbelievable."

Madge and Johanna burst out laughing and nod, making me blush again. "I don't know what you're talking about," I say, concentrating on keeping my face neutral as I take another bite of the delicious pizza.

"Uhu, sure you don't... he was totally flirting with you. _'_Katniss just needs someone to turn her into a romantic soul, HINT HINT'. He might as well just have said '_I'll_ turn her into a romantic soul'," Johanna smirks again. I roll my eyes and tell them to shut up so we can watch the movie again. After a minute everyone's attention is back to the movie, except for mine. My mind goes back to the pizza boy – of which I should have at least asked his name – that left a few minutes ago.

"Katniss?" Madge waves her hand in front of my face and I blink.

"Uh, yes?"

"I just asked if you wanted the last slice of pizza," she says.

"N-no, I'm fine, you have it," I say. She smiles gratefully and shoves it into her mouth. We watch the movie in silence for another half an hour, until it's over. Johanna stretches her limbs and then turns to face us.

"So what do you think pizza boy's name is?" she asks.

"He looks like a Lucas or something to me," Annie says. Madge shakes her head.

"Naaah. I think Josh, or maybe Leo," She says. Johanna thinks for a few seconds and then laughs.

"Imagine if his parents called him Pepperoni, because they own a pizzeria," she laughs again at her own joke, and I can't help but laugh as well, "and he'd be like: 'Oh hi, I'm Pepperoni.' I'd just laugh into his face."

We all laugh and I think of something. "Madge, what's the name of the pizzeria?"

"Uh, I think it's _Mellark's Pizza's_."

"Pepperoni Mellark!" Johanna bursts out laughing again, and for a moment I wonder if there was _something_ in that pizza.

"We should totally look him up!" Madge then says. She grabs my laptop and turns it on quickly. We all huddle around her as she Google's 'Mellark'. A few links come up, the first being the site of the pizzeria, and the one after that a Twitter account of somebody called Leo Mellark. We click on it and enlarge the profile picture.

"He looks quite like him.." Annie murmurs. We nod.

"Probably his brother," Johanna says. Madge grins.

"I told you he looked like a Leo!" she says happily. We chuckle and click on the next link, a _very_ old Myspace account of somebody called Rye Mellark. We click on the profile picture again.

"Aaaw, look, that's him!" Madge points at a twelve-year old boy standing next to Leo and what I suspect to be another brother. We look at his other pictures and find out Rye is the name of the other brother.

"Ugh, I wanna know what _his _name is, not his brother's," I mutter. Johanna just gives me a sideways-smirk before telling Madge to click on the fourth link. It opens a Facebook page of Peeta Mellark, a.k.a blue-eyes.

"Peeta. Hmm. That's.. unique," Annie says. She clicks on his profile picture and a sigh escapes my lips. Peeta. Wearing a tight, black t-shirt and shorts. Smiling. Looking pretty amazing. _Resting his arm around some girl's shoulders. _

"Goddammit, we should have known that that nice piece of ass couldn't be single," Johanna says. Madge scrolls down to his latest status update.

_**Peeta Mellark**__:____Working tonight. Rye's 'sick'. Again._

I chuckle and Madge decides to turn the laptop off.

"Well that wasn't stalker-y at all," I murmur. The girls laugh and shrug.

"When somebody looks that good wearing a stupid cap, it's okay to be stalker-y," Johanna says.

"I thought it was never good to be stalker-y?" Madge asks.

"Don't listen to your parents, school, or whoever told you that, they don't know what they're talking about," Johanna jokes. We all laugh and the girls start talking about other things.

But after a minute my mind goes back to the pizza boy - I mean, Peeta Mellark._  
_

_Author's Note: And this was the first chapter of The Pizza Boy. (I know, the name is totally cliché, but that's all I could come up with). I was trying to write a chapter for my other story, but it just wouldn't work because I had this new fanfic idea stuck in my head. After hours of trying to write a crappy chapter, I decided to just write this. I promise to upload another chapter for Our New Neighbor soon._

_As for this story, it won't be very long. Probably about ten to fifteen chapters? Maybe more or less, depending on how the story rolls. If you have any thoughts, or like it, or dislike it, review! :)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games, Twilight, Elle, Vogue, Vespa's, Google, Twitter, Myspace, or Facebook._


	2. Chapter 2

"Just pass me the bloody chips!" Madge hisses. I push a finger to my own mouth, to warn her to be quieter.

"Shut it, or the teacher'll hear you! And no, you've already had nearly the whole bag!" I hiss back. She glares at me for a second before huffing and crossing her arms. I roll my eyes and silently grab another chip from my bag.

It's Friday again, and pupils nor teachers could give a crap about the lessons anymore. Everybody was looking forward to the well-deserved weekend.

"So, sleepover's at yours tonight, isn't it?" I whisper. Madge just stares ahead of her. "Madge, I said-"

"I _know_ what you said, but I'm ignoring you."

I fight the urge to tell her that she isn't ignoring me by talking back to me, and pass her a handful of chips instead.

"Now, talk to me. The sleepover's at yours?" I ask. She stuffs a handful of chips into her mouth and nods.

"Yeah, but-"

"Miss Undersee, miss Everdeen, _what_ did I say about eating in _my_ classroom?" Mr. Crane says impatiently.

"That we should eat our junk food and other unhealthy things during different periods," Madge says, exaggerating the words 'junk food and other unhealthy things'. The teacher sighs and nods.

"Exactly. And what are you doing?"

"Eating junk food and other unhealthy things," Madge answers with a small, cheeky smile.

"Stay after class, both of you."

"Great work, Badger," I whisper when Mr. Crane's attention is to the front of the class again, where some movie about the old Romans is playing. Madge scowls at me for the unfortunate nickname she got three years ago. Annie and Madge had met during a party, and the music was quite loud. When Madge said her name, Annie somehow thought she said badger. Thus the nickname. I smirk at her for a second before the bell rings. We grab our books and walk over to the teacher's desk.

"You're both going to write an essay on your favorite food. Minimum of a thousand words," Mr. Crane says, not even looking up from the homework he's grading at the moment.

"What? That doesn't even have _anything_ to do with history!" Madge complains. Mr. Crane shrugs and strokes his extravagant beard.

"Write about the history of your favorite food, then. I don't really care. I want it done in two weeks. You may work together." He dismisses us with a wave of his hand. I sigh and turn around.

"So what should we do it on?" Madge asks as we walk towards our spot in the canteen where Johanna, Annie, Gale and Finnick are probably waiting for us. I think about what I like to eat most. Suddenly a picture of a certain pizza comes to mind.

"Pizza. Definitely pizza," I say quickly. Madge raises an eyebrow at me but then shrugs.

"Fine. Pizza it is."

We say hi to the others and sit down quickly. "What kept you so long?" Gale asks. Madge sighs.

"We were eating in class and now we have to write an essay on our favorite food," she says.

"Oh, so what food are you picking?" Annie asks.

"Katniss wanted to choose pizza," she says. All eyes turn to me and I feel myself wince.

"Pizza? I thought your favorite food was lamb stew?" Gale raises an eyebrow at me, just like Madge had a few moments ago. I shrug slightly. Suddenly Johanna burst out laughing.

"Oh my God, you're choosing pizza because of that hot delivery boy, aren't you?" she says loudly. Everybody starts laughing when my cheeks turn pink. Even the boys know about what happened last week- Annie, Johanna and Madge had told them all about it, not leaving out any details. Johanna had even _added_ some details, like the fact that Peeta and I 'felt each other up' in the hallway and 'exchanged fluids'.

"No.. just shut it, Johanna," I murmur before biting into my sandwich.

* * *

"I got the popcorn, start the movie!" Johanna says. We all huddle in front of the tv, under our gigantic blanket and watch as Annie clicks on play.

"Tell me again, why are we going to watch _The Notebook_?" I ask. This would be my seventh time seeing it.

"I've only seen it eleven times, that's why. Now hush, Everdeen," Annie smiles. I roll my eyes and grab a handful of popcorn.

After an hour and a half we're all crying, looking for more tissues. The doorbell rings and I look over at Madge, who, at the moment, is not capable of standing up and walking to the door.

"Y-y-yooohoouu g-get it, K-k-kat n-niss," she sobs loudly.

Why am I always the one that has to answer the door? I sigh and stand up, patting at my cheeks with a tissue. I open the door and feel a déjà vu.

_Wait, wait, wait, wait, hold up._

"That would be... are you alright?"

I blink and try to steady my heartbeat as I look at the familiar pizza boy standing in front of me with a concerned look in his eyes. I open my mouth but apparently my brain is unable to make a sentence. Peeta frowns and looks behind me.

"Maybe we should get you a glass of water?" he says. He doesn't wait for my reaction, and instead walks inside, closes the door, and gently pushes me into the living room. When he sees the other three girls are crying too, his eyes widen. "Oh, uh, you're... ah, you're watching The Notebook. I see. Um, do I, like, have to get you all a drink or something?" he stutters. They all look up at him and try to brush away their tears quickly.

"Oh, hi handsome!" Johanna says with a blocked up nose. Peeta scratches the back of his head with his cap and stands there awkwardly.

"Hi again..," he says. He grabs a box of tissues and hands them over to Madge.

"Th-thank y-y-yooou," she wails. I don't understand how she could still be that emotional after having seen the movie so many times.

"You're welcome," Peeta smiles.

"Madge, you didn't tell me you ordered pizza..," I say, finally finding the ability to speak again. She sniffs a few times and then shrugs.

"Well I d-did, so g-get over it," she murmurs softly, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. Madge was always moody for half an hour after having cried like that.

"Um..," Peeta says after a few moments of silence and sniffing.

"Oh, right, Madge, where's the money?" I say. Peeta smiles a thank-you and I bite my bottom lip to stop the grin that's threatening to take over my face. She points at her wallet on the table and I grab a note of ten and a note of five. I give it to him and tell him to keep the change, just like last time.

"You deserve it after having to see... _this_," I say, pointing at myself and the three girls. He laughs.

"Alright, well I'll be going then," he says.

"Thanks for the pizza, Peeta," I smile. His smile drops from his face and he gives me a confused frown.

"How do you know my name?"

_Shit shit shit shit shit_

"Yeah Katniss, how _do_ you know his name?" Johanna smirks.

_Okay Everdeen, quick, think of an excuse!_

"I found your Facebook page."

_What the hell, brain?!_

His mouth opens in surprise and his eyes widen a little bit. Behind him I see Johanna, Madge and Annie desperately trying to control their giggles.

"Well at least now I feel a little less stalker-y," Peeta grins after a few moments.

"What.. what do you mean?" I ask.

"Well Katniss _Everdeen_, you're not the only one who knows how to use the internet," he says. My mouth opens in shock, once again, and I can feel three pairs of eyes burning into my skull. "Anyway, I gotta go. Enjoy your pizza and Ryan Gosling, ladies." He gives us all a cheeky wink and then leaves, putting his cap back on and closing the door behind him.

"What just happened?" Annie whispers.

"I don't know," I whisper back.

We all stare at the door for a few seconds before the waft of fresh, hot pizza reminds me of how hungry I actually am. I grab the box and sit next to the others again.

"Katniss."

"Yes, Madge?"

"He looked you up."

"I know."

Four seconds go by before Annie and Madge start squealing, talking about how cute that is, and that he 'totally likes me'.

"He's probably just one of those guys that flirts with everyone. Plus, he probably has a girlfriend, remember?" I remind them. Madge rolls her eyes.

"He wasn't flirting with us, was he?" she argues.

"Well yeah, but I'm ten times better-looking than you lot," I smirk. They all grab a pillow and hit my head with it. I laugh. "Alright, alright, I deserved that one."

"Seriously though, he-"

Johanna gets interrupted by my phone going off. I give them an apologetic smile and tap in the code to unlock it.

"I have a friend request..," I murmur.

_Peeta Mellark wants to be friends on Facebook._

"Who is it?" Annie asks.

"Blue-eyes..," I say softly.

"Who?" Annie frowns.

"P-Peeta."

"Oh my God, accept accept accept!" Madge nearly yells into my ear.

"Why why why?" I yell back. Johanna and Annie laugh.

"Then I can befriend him too, and if you two don't work out..," she wiggles her eyebrows suggestively and I snort.

"There's nothing that can't work out in the first place. I don't even _know_ this guy," I say, which was painfully true. All I knew was that his name was Peeta Mellark. He had two brothers, and his parents owned a pizzeria. And his eyes were too freakin' blue to be deemed normal.

"Just accept the request already!" Johanna says. I click on 'accept' quickly and then put my phone down again.

"There. Accepted. Happy?"

The three of them nod and I roll my eyes.

"Let's just watch another movie or something..," I say. Madge nods and puts another movie on.

"So Annie, what's up between you and Finnick, hmm?" Madge smirks. Annie's cheeks go red.

"Nothing's 'up' between Finn and I. We're friends. That's all," she says, suddenly very interested in her fingernails.

"So I suppose you won't mind if I tell him to take me up against the wall during our free period tomorrow?" Johanna asks. Annie's jaw drops and we all start laughing. Then she grabs the pillow from behind my back and hits Johanna with it.

"Don't you even dare, Jo. I don't want Finnick to suffer," Annie says. They both glare at each other for a few seconds before laughing.

"Don't worry Cresta, he's all yours." Johanna makes a bow and we all laugh again.

* * *

A week goes by and before we know it, it's Friday again. I'm just putting the last things into my bag when I get a message.

_From Badger, sent 18.27_

Hey Kat, I can't come to Johanna's tonight. My Dad's got a meeting and he'd rather I stay home. Have fun at Annie's! xxx

I text her back that it's okay, and a few minutes later my phone buzzes again.

_From Johanna, sent 18.34_

Can't sleep at Annie's tonight. Going on a date with some hot guy I met at a disco last night.

I roll my eyes and chuckle. Then I text her back, saying to have fun and not get naked.

_Not making any promises,_ she texts back. I laugh and lock my phone, throwing it onto my bed. I grab my pajamas and toothbrush and then zip my bag. I was ready to go. I put my shoes on, and open the door just as my phone buzzes again. What now?

_From Annie, sent 18.45_

I'm so sorry, but you can't sleep at my house tonight! My Mom's sick. You'll have to sleep at Jo's or Madge's. Have fun! Xxx

I text her back saying that Annie and Madge weren't free tonight either. Annie says she's sorry again and I sigh. I close the door and walk into the living room.

"What's wrong? Forget something?" Prim asks. I sit next to her and start taking my shoes off.

"They all canceled," I say, probably pouting like a four-year-old. I didn't care though. I was really looking forward to tonight.

"Awww. That sucks," Prim says, scooting closer and wrapping her arms around my middle. Then her eyes light up. "How about we have a sleepover? Just the two of us?"

"I don't know Prim..."

"Oh come on, it will be fun! I have nothing better to do anyways!" She grins up at me. I smile and pat her head once.

"Fine then, little duck."

Three hours later, the three of us - Prim, Buttercup and I - are snuggled up under Prim's blanket, watching old reruns of _Friends_ and eating Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

"Ugh, this is delicious. I kinda feel like pizza though," Prim says. My eyes widen. It's Friday. The past two Friday's Peeta was working around this time.

_Not that I care or anything._

"Oh, really?" I say. She nods.

"Can we order Domino's or something?"

"Um, I think Domino's is.. rebuilding at the moment," I say quickly. Prim frowns and I nod. "Yeah, so um, how about we order from this little pizzeria I heard about two weeks ago? Their pizza's are really good and they're quite cheap and they deliver quick and-"

"Okay, okay, whatever. Slow down, Katniss. Let's order from that pizzeria," Prim says, a bit confused. I smile and grab my phone, realizing I don't even have the number as Madge called both times. I decide to text Madge quickly.

_Madge, what's the number of Mellark's pizzeria?_

About a minute later I get a text back.

_Why d'you wanna know? Why don't you just ask pizza boy on Facebook?_

I roll my eyes and text back, _just tell me!_

She texts me the number and I smile, calling it and ordering a large pizza for Prim and I to share. As the clock ticks on, I seem to get more nervous every minute. Blue-eyes was coming.

_Wait, why do I care?_

The doorbell rings and I nearly leap off of the sofa. Prim raises an eyebrow at me and I grin sheepishly before running to the door and opening it. My smile falls when I realize that an unknown pair of blue eyes are looking at me. I vaguely remember the boy standing in front of me being one of Peeta's brothers.

He grins and gives me a wink before extending the pizza towards me. "Hi there. That would be 13,50 please," he says. Then he thinks for a second before leaning one arm on the door frame and leaning his face towards me. "Unless you wanna invite me in or something. I might be able to reduce the price for a kiss," he grins. I feel my jaw drop.

"W-what..?!" I stammer. He chuckles and I push his shoulder so he takes a step back. "Here's the money. Thanks for the pizza." And with that I snatch the pizza out of his hand and slam the door shut. I walk to the living room and sit next to Prim again.

"Why the grumpy face?" she asks after nearly burning her mouth on the red-hot pizza.

"The pizza guy told me he could reduce the price if I gave him a kiss," I tell her, my face automatically scrunching up.

"Ew, that's weird. Was he hot?"

"Prim!"

"What?"

I sigh. "Kinda. Well, no. Yes. No."

_He reminds me of my other pizza boy._

_Wait, _my _pizza boy?!_

What's gotten into me?

_Katniss, stop having internal discussions with yourself!_

"Hmm. Oh well. Ugh, this pizza is _good_!" Prim sighs dramatically. I smile and pat her head affectionately before taking a bite myself as well.

_Author's Note: And that was chapter twoooo. And btw, thank you so much for all the reviews, follows and favorites! It really surprised me to see how popular the story had gotten after one, I repeat, one chapter. It's unbelievable. Anyway, tell me what you think! Positive thoughts, negative thoughts. Any thoughts will do, really. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or any brands named in this fanfiction. _

_(Yes, I was too lazy to list them all -oops-)_


	3. Chapter 3

"Ba da da da da, I'm loving it," Annie sings as the six of us walk over to a free table in the back of the McDonald's. I chuckle and bump her shoulder with mine when Finnick decides to sit right next to her. She glares at me for a moment before glancing sideways and smiling.

"I'm really glad Mr. Crane accepted our essay," Madge says as she opens her Happy Meal box. She pulls out the toy and groans when she sees she already has this one. "Here Finnick, happy belated birthday." She throws it at his head and he catches it just in time.

"Aw, Madge, how sweet! It's only five months late. Come here so I can give you a kiss!" he yells, leaning over the table and making wet, smoochy sounds with his lips. The whole table erupts into laughter when Madge grabs his hamburger and stuffs it into his face. He rolls his eyes and throws a fry at her before laughing as well.

"Anyway, as I was saying, we're quite lucky. I just hope he doesn't find out it's only 850 words," Madge grins.

"Such badasses, handing in essays with less than a thousand words!" Gale says sarcastically. Madge just rolls her eyes and tells him to shut up. He grins and pokes her side once so she looks up at him again. He stares into her eyes for a minute before Finnick coughs loudly.

Madge and Gale have had a thing going on for a few weeks now, where they'd just stare into each others eyes for a minute or two. After that they'd both act like nothing happened. When I asked Madge about it, she just said it was them having a _staring contest_.

I smile and look around the room. I hated how busy it always was in here. Suddenly my breath hitches in my throat as I see two boys walking in our direction, one of which has blue eyes.

"Annie, is that Peeta?" I whisper as I point to the two boys who are looking around, trying to find a seat. Annie cranes her neck to see, and then nods.

"Yeah, I think so. Looks like they don't have anywhere to sit either..," she says softly. I bite on my bottom lip.

"Should I invite them to sit with us?" I ask. Annie smirks for a second before nodding her head.

"I think you should. It would be the polite thing to do."

I exhale loudly and see he's looking in our direction again. I raise my hand and wave at him. After a few seconds he notices and smiles. He nudges his friend and they walk over together.

"Hey, Katniss!" Peeta smiles when they're standing at our table. I notice he looks even better in normal clothes than in his pizza-delivery uniform. The white shirt and faded jeans looked amazing on him. Plus, his hair wasn't messy from wearing a cap all day.

"Uh, hi Peeta.. I was wondering if you'd like to sit with us.. you know, 'cause there isn't really anywhere else to sit... and... yeah, you know..," I say. Gale snorts and puts a hand over his mouth. Peeta looks at his friend, who shrugs slightly, and then smiles at me.

"Sure, we'd love to sit with you."

He sits down next to me, and his friend sits in between Peeta and Johanna.

"So, um, guys, this is Peeta. Peeta, these are my friends, Finnick and Gale, and you've met Annie, Johanna and Madge before," I say. Peeta smiles and gives them a small wave.

"Nice to meet you all. This is Roger," he says, patting his friend on the back. Roger smiles and starts unwrapping his hamburger. A silence falls over the table, as no one knows what to say.

"So Katniss, how did you and Peeta meet?" Finnick smirks, knowing the story already. I glare at him and Peeta chuckles.

"Katniss ordered pizza, I delivered it..," he shrugs and I smile.

"Don't forget the part where I gave you a tip, twice," I joke. He laughs.

"Oh, how could I forget that?"

We both laugh together as everybody just stares at us, an amused look on all their faces. I look at Peeta and he stares at me for a few seconds, smile slowly fading away.

_My God, his eyes are blue. And his hair is so perfectly blonde and wavy._

Gale clears his throat and we both blink at the same time, quickly returning to the food in front of us. I pick up a fry and throw it into my mouth quickly, hoping nobody notices that my cheeks are on fire. Soon everybody starts talking to each other again, and Peeta turns to me.

"You were quite quick to accept that friend request on Facebook two weeks ago," he smirks slightly, sipping on his coke. I raise an eyebrow sceptically.

"You were quite quick to send that friend request on Facebook two weeks ago," I retort. He laughs, shaking his head slightly.

"Touché."

"So.. you weren't working last Friday," I say after a moment.

"Miss me?" he grins. I laugh.

"Not really. Just wondering why."

_You're such a liar, Everdeen._

"I work every second Friday and my brother, Rye, works the other Fridays," he explains. Ah.

"Does your brother flirt with all of the customers?" I ask. Peeta blinks.

"Did he hit on you?" he asks seriously. I nod with a small smile on my face. He rolls his eyes, muttering something sounding a lot like 'dumbass'.

"Well I'm sorry, he's a dork," he shrugs slightly, grinning. Then he slaps his own forehead. "Wait, let me guess, he used the 'I'll lower the price for a kiss' one, didn't he?" he says. I laugh and nod. He rolls his eyes again and shakes his head. "You didn't actually _kiss_ him though, did you? I don't want his ego to boost."

"No, don't worry, I don't kiss random pizza delivery boys," I say.

"Shame," he says, grinning mischievously. I nearly choke on my milkshake, coughing twice. He just chuckles, cheeks slightly pink. I realize all of my friends have stood up and are starting to clear their trays.

"Katniss, are you coming or are you too busy talking to handsome over there?" Johanna says loudly. I put a hand on my forehead and sigh.

"Yes, Johanna, I'm coming," I reply. I stand up and clear my tray. Then I walk over to Peeta and Roger.

"Um, it was nice meeting you Roger," I smile. He smiles and nods, saying it was nice to meet me too.

"Nice seeing you, Katniss," Peeta says, sending a wave of giddy happiness through me when he says my name.

"Nice seeing you as well, Peeta." I smile. I turn around and start walking away when I remember something. I turn around. "Oh, Peeta?" I say. He raises his eyebrows slightly. "Are you working tonight?"

He nods. "Uh, yeah."

"Well then I'll see you later," I grin and turn around again, walking towards my friends.

"Katniss Everdeen. Never thought I'd see the day that you'd flirt with someone," Finnick says as we all start walking.

"I.. I wasn't flirting," I say.

"Oh, the joking, the laughing, the staring into his eyes. Nah, that wasn't flirting _at all_," Madge says.

"You and Gale stare into each others eyes all the time. Does that mean you two are flirting?" I say, trying to put the spotlight on them, not me. Madge opens her mouth but seems to be at a loss for words. Gale's just looking down, kicking at a pebble.

"It's not about Gale and I right now. We want to know about you and Blondie." Madge says after a few seconds too long. I roll my eyes.

"Madge, it's nothing. Let's just get to Johanna's house, yeah?"

* * *

"So I said, if you're not willing to sleep with someone before marriage, this relationship just ain't gonna work. And he just started talking about how it was part of his belief or something, blah blah. I ate my dinner and left as soon as possible," Johanna tells us. I chuckle and roll my eyes.

"What a first date..," Annie mutters. Johanna shrugs, knocking back another glass of Fanta.

"It's his fault if he doesn't wanna get down and dirty without wedding bells," she states bluntly. Madge snorts and Annie shakes her head.

"Is every sentence that comes out of your mouth dirty?" I wonder. Johanna smirks.

"I try," she grins. I laugh and throw a piece of popcorn at her.

"I'm hungry," Annie says after a few moments.

"Shall I call a pizza? Yeah, I'll call a pizza," I say quickly, picking up my phone.

"But I don't feel like pi-"

"Hi, yes, one large pizza with pepperoni please," I say. Then I tell him Johanna's address.

"Alright, it should be there in approximately twenty minutes. Thanks for ordering at _Mellark's Pizza's,_" some guy says. Then the line goes dead.

I put my phone down and grin.

"You didn't," Johanna says.

"I didn't what?"

"You didn't just order a pizza just so you can see Goldilocks."

"No, I just... want pizza," I say. Johanna shakes her head and sighs.

"You're paying for this, I'm broke," she says after a few seconds. I chuckle.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

We watch some television for a while, laughing at _Toddlers and Tiaras_, until the doorbell goes. I jump off of the sofa and run to the door, yelling "I'll get it, I'll get it!". The girls just laugh and shake their head. I take a deep breath and open the door. Peeta's leaning against the door frame, smiling at me.

"Hi," he says softly.

"Hey."

"Here's your pizza. That will be-"

"13,50, yeah yeah," I smirk. He chuckles and nods.

"I like your pajamas, by the way," he tells me as I search for the money in my pocket.

"Uh, thanks. There my little sister's, Prim," I blush, running a hand over the soft, spotty pants. He smiles.

_Where's the money?_

"I, uh, think I forgot the money inside. Again," I say after a few moments, my face going pink. He laughs and raises an eyebrow.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were doing this on purpose," he smirks. I just roll my eyes and gesture for him to follow me inside. He chuckles again with that deep, raspy chuckle of his and I take a deep breath as I walk into the living room.

"Lost your money again, Katniss?" Johanna says straight away.

"Uh, yeah... how d'you guess?" I ask, frowning. She smirks and shrugs.

"I may or may not have seen it fall out of your pocket as you stood up," she says.

"And you couldn't tell me, or bring it to me?" I say.

"Didn't wanna interrupt your little make-out session," she says, pointing at Peeta and I. His jaw drops and he looks at me for a moment, then at Johanna, and then at me again. Then he starts laughing.

"Oh, we wouldn't _really_ mind if you interrupted us, don't worry," he says. My eyes widen as I look back at him and raise my eyebrows. The girls laugh and he grins. I shake my head slightly, smiling, and give him the money.

"Keep the change," I tell him, just like every time. He smiles and his fingers touch mine for a second, giving me an electric shock. I pull back quickly. "You gave me an electric shock!" I accuse teasingly.

"No, you gave _me_ an electric shock," he says, putting the money in his pocket.

"I'm sure you-"

"I'm hungry, just hurry up and give me the pizza!" Annie moans. I chuckle and start walking Peeta to the door.

"Well, enjoy the pizza Katniss. If Annie doesn't finish it before you even get to grab a slice, that is," he jokes. I laugh.

"Thanks, blue-eyes-"

_I hate you, brain._

"_Peeta_. Thank you, Peeta. I'll see you next week, or the week after or whatever," I say quickly, closing the door as fast as I can, just in time to hear him laugh loudly.

_Author's Note: I hope you liked the chapter. And again, I'd like to thank you all for the reviews, follows and favorites. You people are the best. *cue cheesy music*. Nah, only kidding. Thanks though. Next chapter will be up soon! :)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games, or any brands, tv shows, etc. named in this chapter. I also do not own Peeta, Finnick, Gale -sigh-, or any other characters._


	4. Chapter 4

2"I still can't believe you said 'blue-eyes' to him last night," Madge says as we sit around the table and have our breakfast. I roll my eyes.

"Yeah, me neither. He probably thinks I'm a weirdo," I murmur.

"Well you are..," Johanna smirks. I glare at her for a moment before she chews again and points her spoon at me, cornflakes and milk dripping onto the table. "Katniss, last night when I woke up to take a piss _I swear_ I heard you say Peeta's name when you were sleeping."

My jaw drops and I raise an eyebrow. "You're lying."

"Nope, you like him more than you think. And that, my friend, is why Madge is currently sending him a 'hi' on Facebook," Johanna winks. I whip my head around and watch as Madge stands behind me, typing on my phone with a devilish grin on her face. I jump up and snatch the phone out of her hands.

"I can't believe you lot! It's eleven in the morning, he probably-"

_Pling!_

"And?" Annie asks.

"He says hi back..," I murmur, looking at my phone as he types another message.

**How are you? :)**

_I'm fine thanks, you?_

**Yeah, I'm fine.**

"Now what do I say? There's going to be one of those awkward silences and it's all your fault," I say as I sit down again. Johanna and Madge look at each other for a second before nodding. Then they both smirk at me. "Uh.. what are you looking at?" I frown. Suddenly Madge wraps her arms around mine and Johanna grabs my phone. I try and wriggle out of Madge's grip, but she's much stronger than she looks.

"Johanna! Give that back!" I yell as Johanna starts typing. A few seconds later she grins happily and puts the phone down in front of me. Madge lets go and I punch both of their arms softly. I grab my phone and look at what Johanna sent Peeta.

_Do you wanna hang out today?_

"Johanna, Madge!" I yell.

"You're lucky I didn't send 'make out' instead of 'hang out'," Johanna tells me.

"Oh come on, it'll be fine, Katniss," Annie says.

"You _knew_ they were going to do this?" I ask. She nods. I sigh and throw my head back. "I hate all of you," I groan.

"Love you too, Kat," Madge smirks, making kissy-faces. I chuckle and push her away until I hear my phone go off. I grab it quickly and look at the response.

**Sure! What d'you wanna do?**

Annie squeals and starts jumping in her seat, Johanna just smirks knowingly and Madge mutters something that sounds like 'you're welcome'.

"What do I say? I don't want to go on a date with him!" I say, starting to feel a bit nervous. Madge thinks for a second before snapping her fingers.

"Just ask if he wants to hang out with Gale, Finnick and us!"

"But you'll scare him off..," I tease. Madge laughs and shakes her head. I take a breath and start typing again.

_I was gonna hang out with my friends in town at two. You can come with us if you like?_

"You should put a smiley face behind it, it will make you seem nicer," Annie suggests. I just roll my eyes and wait till Peeta answers.

**Sounds good! I'll meet you outside of the McDonald's at two! xx**

"God bless that boy, he sent two x's," Madge says, putting a hand over her heart. We all laugh and I type something back.

_Alright, see you later xx_

"Smiley face!" Annie orders. I sigh and put a smiley at the end as well. Then I send it and put my phone down.

"Where did he say he'd meet us?" Gale asks. I point at the McDonald's at the end of the street.

"Looks like your pizza boy is late..," Finnick says as we stand outside a few seconds later. I look at the clock on my mobile and frown. It was five past two.

"Maybe he decided not to come after all..," I say softly.

"Nah, I'm sure he's just-" Madge gets cut off by someone walking towards us.

"I'm sorry I'm late, I had some last-minute stuff to do in the pizzeria," Peeta says quickly, "it was really busy and my Dad needed me to help some customers." He takes a deep breath and looks at everyone.

"It's fine, we didn't wait for long," I assure him. He looks over at me and smiles.

"Hey," he says. I smile.

"Hi."

"Hey Blondie, what's up?" Gale asks, stepping closer to him and bumping his fist. Peeta smiles and starts talking to him. We all walk towards one of the busier streets in town and talk to each other. At a certain moment Peeta ends up walking next to me, behind everyone else. Because this part of town is very busy today, we're forced to walk right next to each other, nearly touching. He leans in closer and says hi. I smile and say hi back.

"Enjoy your pizza last night?" he asks. I nod and say it was delicious. He smiles again. Then Madge and Annie drag us all into some clothes shop. The two of them go off and start picking up clothes like there's no tomorrow, and the rest off us stand somewhere in a corner, leaning against the wall.

"Did you, um... what did you.. call me last night?" Peeta asks after a few seconds, one eyebrow raised slightly. I feel myself blush and cross my arms, staring ahead of me. I bite on my bottom lip and try to think of an easy way to say that I've given him a _freaking nickname_, even though I barely know him. A nickname that has to do with how blue and pretty and amazing his eyes are.

"I, uh.. I can't, um, remember," I stutter.

_Smooth, Katniss. Real smooth.  
_  
"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Cause I think it sounded something a little bit like _blue-eyes_," Peeta smirks and I have to take a deep breath to keep my heart from pounding too loud.

"It, uh, I didn't- did it? I, um-"

"I'm flattered."

"Y-you're what?" I raise my eyebrows.

"I'm flattered you mentally refer to me as blue-eyes," Peeta grins, nudging my left arm with his right elbow.

"I... I don't mentally..," I trail off, giving up. I'm a bad liar anyway. Peeta snickers and looks down, shaking his head slightly. After about ten minutes, Annie and Madge both come back with big bags filled with clothes.

"How do you _do_ that?" Finnick asks, gently taking Annie's bag from her. She shrugs slightly and he smiles and carries her bag for her. She blushes and follows him out of the shop. We chuckle and Peeta leans in to whisper something as we start walking again. His hand covers my ear and I inhale sharply as I feel his breath tickle my ear.

"Are they dating?" he whispers, meaning Finnick and Annie. He leans back and looks at me. I just shake my head quickly.

"N-no, I'm positive they like each other, though," I say. He nods and walks next to me again. After a half an hour of walking in and out of shops, we stop at a small cafe to have something to eat. We all sit around one of the biggest tables they have, and still we're a bit squashed. Gale, Peeta and I all try and sit down on the remaining seat which is obviously only big enough for two people. Gale then sits down and pulls me on top of him.

Usually I'd be fine with this. I've sat on Gale's lap many times before, as have the other girls. But the fact that _Peeta_ - out of all people - is sitting next to us, makes me want to slap Gale for making me sit on top of him. Peeta just stares at both of us for a moment before sitting down as well and grabbing the menu card.

"I think I'm getting a grilled cheese toastie," Finnick says. Everyone starts saying what they want.

"What about you, Catnip?" Gale asks. I see Peeta's eyebrows raise slightly at the nickname and internally curse Gale and his stupid nickname.

"I, uh, think I'll just have what Annie said she was having," I say.

About fifteen minutes later the waiter comes back with our food and we all dig in.

"This shtuff is weally goodf!" Finnick says, chewing and talking with a full mouth.

"Ever heard of manners, Finn?" Madge jokes.

"Ever heard of minding your own business, Madgypadgy?" he retorts. Madge rolls her eyes and we all laugh.

"So, anyway, Goldilocks-" Johanna starts, looking at Peeta.

"Goldilocks?" He raises both eyebrows.

"I can call you Goldilocks or BPOA," Johanna shrugs slightly.

"BPOA?"

"Blonde Piece Of Ass," she explains. The whole table erupts into laughter as Peeta's cheeks go a light shade of pink.

"I, uh, Goldilocks is fine, I suppose..," he mutters after a few seconds.

"Alright then. Goldilocks, who you datin'?" Johanna asks. Peeta stares at her for a few seconds, sipping on his drink before putting it down and running a hand through his hair.

"Why, interested?" he then says with a low, seductive voice.

_My God his voice is so sexy._

I cough once because my food goes down the wrong way and Gale laughs loudly. Johanna starts laughing and pats Peeta's leg.

"As fine as your ass is, no," she says. Peeta pouts like a little child.

"Aw, why nooot?" he jokes.

"People might get jealous-" Johanna stops when she sees my smile drop off of my face. Her eyes widen and she gets that sorry-look in her eyes I only get to see once a year if I'm lucky.

".. what?" Peeta says seriously.

"Madge has a crush on you!" Annie blurts out.

"What?!" Peeta, Madge and Gale all yell at the same time. Madge opens her mouth to say something but Johanna stops her.

"Yeah. Big crush. Tell him, Madge," Johanna says, giving Madge a pointed look. Madge glares at her for a second before taking a deep breath and turning to Peeta with an all-too-sweet smile on her face.

"I, uh, yeah... you're hot..?" Madge stutters, cheeks going red.

_What have we gotten ourselves into?!_

Peeta's cheeks go red as well as he straightens himself.

"I... oh.. you.. okay..," he says slowly. Johanna stares at Madge again, mouthing something. Madge shakes no a few times before making a painful face and leaning forward. Suddenly she gives Peeta a kiss on the cheek.

"If you could excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom," Gale says quickly, lifting me off of him and walking in some random direction quickly.

"Wha-" Peeta says.

"Shit," Madge groans, running her left hand over her face. Then she stands up and walks after Gale without saying another word. Annie, Johanna, Finnick, Peeta and I all stare at the table for a few seconds.

"Wait, what's going on?" Finnick then says, a dumbfounded expression on his face. "I thought it was Katniss who-"

"You moron!" Johanna yells, jumping on him and putting her hand over his mouth. She looks at Peeta and smiles sweetly, although it looks more like a grimace on Johanna. "Yeah, it was Katniss who was going to pay for this. You're right Finnick, sorry," she says quickly. Now if I didn't know what she was talking about, I would have believed her lie. Johanna, thank god, is an amazing liar.

The table then goes quiet after Johanna straightens herself and sits next to Finnick normally. "I, uh, think I'll go and see where Gale and Madge are..," I say after a few seconds. Annie nods and I stand up and walk in the direction I saw them leave. After looking around the cafe for a minute or two I walk outside.

"Oh my God," I whisper. Gale and Madge are passionately making out against the side of the building. Gale has one arm wrapped around Madge's waist, and the other hand on the back of her neck. Madge has one has one hand gripping the collar of his shirt, and the other running through and gripping his hair. I clear my throat loudly and they both jump apart, pushing each other away. They look at me with shocked eyes and swollen lips.

"Uh..," I say, taking a step back. Madge immediately starts walking towards me.

"Katniss, let me explain," she says quickly, a guilty look on her face. I narrow my eyes at her.

"Explain.. what?"

Madge shuffles on both of her feet and Gale desperately tries not to meet my eyes. "We, uh, Gale and I might have been.. secretly dating for the past few weeks..?" she says. My jaw drops.

"What?!"

"Um, surprise, Catnip," Gale gives me a half-smile, but it soon falters when they both see my expression.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought you might get mad because, well, you know, you two dated and stuff," Madge says quickly. I notice red blotches are starting to show up on her neck. "And Johanna said it might be better if-"

"Wait, Johanna knows about you two?" I say loudly, starting to get slightly angry.

"Uh, kinda..," Madge murmurs.

"Is she the only one?" I demand. Madge looks up and sighs.

"Annie and Finnick know as well," she says softly.

"Didn't.. don't you trust me or something? Why didn't anybody tell me? Have you seriously all been keeping this a secret from me for weeks?!" I say. This hurt. This really hurt. I told them _everything_. How could two of my best friends keep such a big secret from me? I felt betrayed.

"Katniss, you don't-" Gale tries.

"Just- just stop, okay?" I say, trying to calm down a bit. I glare at both of them for second before turning around and stomping back into the restaurant. When I get back to our table, everybody stops talking when they see my face.

"Katniss, are you-" Annie starts.

"How could you not _tell me_?" I say softly. Confusion flashes across everybody's face.

"About what, exactly?" Finnick says.

"About Gale. And Madge. Together."

Johanna scrunches her eyes shut and curses softly, Annie's eyes widen and Finnick bites on his bottom lip. Peeta just watches all of us with a curious expression on his face.

"You have to understand-" Johanna says, but I cut her off.

"Understand _what_, Johanna? That apparently you'd all rather keep a big secret from me for weeks than just telling me?" I snap. Johanna shuts her mouth again and looks down at the floor for a moment. "I'm going. I'll see you at school Monday," I murmur, turning around and walking out through the back entrance so I don't see Madge and Gale again.

After a few seconds I hear someone running after me. "Hey, Katniss! Wait up!" I turn around and see Peeta coming towards me. He stops in front of me and takes a deep breath. "You walk quick," he says, chest heaving slightly. I sigh and turn around again. We both walk in silence for a minute or two, next to each other.

"Hey, Katniss?" he then says softly. I look up at him. "If you wanna talk about whatever just happened there, then.. well, you can if you want. I'm all ears," he says. Then he starts pulling at his ears and making a weird face. I feel the corners off my mouth turn up slightly, even though I'm trying my best not to laugh. After a few seconds he crosses his eyes and I burst out laughing. He smiles, a look of victory all over his face.

"Thanks, Peeta," I say. He shrugs slightly.

"It's fine. Now, wanna explain why one second Madge says she likes me and then the next you come bursting in talking about Madge and Gale together?" he says. I sigh and explain what I saw when I walked outside, and that I had a feeling there was something going on between them for a while now, but never expected _this_. When I'm done he just nods slightly.

"They were only trying to protect you though, you know that, right? They were trying to be good friends. They didn't want you to get mad," he says. I stop walking and glare at him.

"But they _lied_ to me. All of them. They're making me feel like I can't be trusted or something," I say, my voice coming out softer and weaker than I'd hoped. Peeta looks at me for a moment before grabbing my wrist and making me walk again. After a few seconds he lets go.

"When I was small, about 4 or 5, I once dropped a stack of pizza boxes filled with fresh pizza's that we're just about to be delivered," he says softly, "When my Mom found out, she went nuts. Her whole face went red and she started screaming about that I had just wasted a load of money and pizza's, and that I had disappointed customers. After a minute of screeching, she... she..," his voice trembles slightly and he takes a deep breath. "She slapped me. Hard. So hard I stumbled backwards and banged my head off of the table."

I gasp as he lowers his head for me to see a small scar in between his hair.

"That's.. that's terrible," I say, unable to grasp the fact that Peeta's mother basically _abused_ him. He sighs again and shrugs slightly. "But why did you just tell me that?" I ask. This didn't have anything to do with what I just told him, did it? He looks at me again and smiles.

"I trust you."

My face lights up as I realize that he told me the story to show me I could be trusted. Before I even have a chance to think about what I'm doing, I take a step forward and wrap my arms around his torso. He freezes for a second before his arms reply to my touch and wrap around me as well.

"Thanks, Peeta," I murmur into his chest. He tugs at my braid once and try to hide the smile threatening to take over my whole face again.

_Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to update! Would it help if I said I think I just had two of the busiest weeks of this whole year? Anyway, I won't be updating for at least another week, because I have some reaaally important tests coming up. Plus, I'm going to try and update Our New Neighbor before I upload another chapter for this. But as I said, no more updates for a while. Thanks for reading, reviewing, following or favoriting, I really appreciate it! :)_


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Note: When Peeta and Katniss are on Facebook, Peeta is in _**bold**_and Katniss is in Italic._

Gale winks at Madge and she giggles, looking down. I roll my eyes and point at them with my pen.

"Okay, I was wondering, now that I know that you two are dating, why don't you.. you know, be couple-y in public?" I ask.

"Because we don't want people to know. They might tell my father," Madge explains. I nod slowly. Mayor Undersee was very strict when it came to boyfriends. Madge's last boyfriend got threatened and nearly peed his pants. Since then, Madge hasn't had a lot of boyfriends.

"Once again, Catnip, I'm really sorry we didn't tell you," Gale says. I sigh and shake my head.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. I understand," I murmur. My laptop makes a sound and I smile, putting it onto my lap again.

"Another message from Pizzaguy?" Finnick smirks. I glare at him for a second before nodding. Madge smirks and turns to Finnick.

"They've been talking every day since last week," she says. Finnick hums, as if he's thinking.

"You know, I've been thinking..," he starts when I raise an eyebrow at him.

"You shouldn't do that, you might hurt your brain." I smirk. Gale laughs and gives me a high-five. Finnick rolls his eyes at me.

"Anyway, as I was saying, it sounds like Pizzaguy likes you."

I stop typing and stare at my hands. Then I quickly shake my head.

"Nah. He doesn't," I say. Finnick sighs and bangs his head off the table dramatically.

"You are so _oblivious_," he moans.

"Big words, Finn." I glare at him. He glares back and then shrugs.

"Fine. I don't care. Just don't come crying when somebody else snatches him from under your nose," Finnick spits, glaring at the table and playing with his fingers. "Or when you wait too long and he decides to go a stupid date with some other stupid person with stupid hair and stupid muscles."

"Uh.. what?" Gale frowns. Finnick takes a deep breath and suddenly I see all the anger in his eyes get replaced by regret.

"Some stupid guy from the football team asked Annie if she'd like to go the freakin' aquarium with him. And she said yes. I mean, who even _goes_ to the aquarium, except for five-year-olds? Jesus, his muscles aren't even _that _big, like, if I tried I could be as big as him as well. And what's with his hair? How many hours does he spend on that in the morning, three?" Finnick rants. "And he has the IQ-level of a monkey!"

"Monkey's are actually quite smart, Finn," Madge starts.

"I don't _care_, I should be the one taking her to a stupid aquarium, not him!" Finnick yells. The room falls quiet as the three of us stare at the boy angrily muttering about _stupid Jack with his stupid varsity jacket and stupid car_.

"I- I'm sorry, Finnick, I didn't know..," I say. He shrugs, suddenly smiling again.

"It's fine. It's no big deal, ya know?" He smiles, although it doesn't reach his eyes at all. I frown and nod slowly. "Anyway, we should finish this homework, it's what we came here for in the first place!"

* * *

_Peeta Mellark is in a relationship_

My throat goes dry as I stare at the six words that seem to get bigger and more threatening every time I blink.

"You okay, Katniss?" Prim asks, looking at me worriedly. I swallow hard and look at her.

"Fine, I'm fine," I say, my eyes going back to look at the screen. "Just, er, tired, that's all." Prim nods and goes back to tapping on her phone quickly. I slam the laptop shut and grab my phone that's now lighting up. I have one new message and open it quickly.

_From Badger, sent 16.52_

SHIT KATNISS GO ONTO FACEBOOK AND ONTO PEETA'S PAGE QUICKLY OMG SHIT

I sigh and quickly text back that I've seen it. Before I can even put my phone back down I receive a new text.

_From Badger, sent 16.32  
_

_He's a douchebag anyway, Katniss, like seriously, just forget him. Wanna come over and eat some ice cream with me?_

I laugh and thank whoever's up there for giving me amazing friends.

_To Badger, sent 16.32_

Nah, I'm fine Madge, thanks anyway x

I walk into the kitchen and grab a bag of crisps before walking up to my room and putting my Ipod on shuffle. Humming along to the songs, I clean my room a bit, until my phone lights up yet again.

_From Johanna, sent 16.56_

Did you finally tell Peeta you have the hots for him?! Why did I have to find out via Facebook?!

I sigh and type out a reply.

_To Johanna, sent 16.57_

No, I didn't. I don't have anything to do with Peeta's new relationship.

From Johanna, sent 16.58

Oh. Shit. Sorry Kat.

I roll my eyes.

_To Johanna, sent 16.59_

It's fine.

After giving up on cleaning my room, I grab my laptop from downstairs and sit on my bed. After I open up the browser and type in Facebook, Peeta starts talking to me.

**Hey Katniss! What's up?**

_Not much, you?_

**Nah, just listening to music and stuff :)**

_Okay._

I lick my lips swiftly and then decide to just say what's on my mind.

_So, you have a girlfriend?_

**Oh. Uh, yeah.**

_That's nice._

**Yeah, she's.. great.**

I glare at my laptop. Who did he think he was, getting a girlfriend without even telling me?

_So, what's her name?_

**Glimmer.**

I snort loudly and cover my mouth with my hand as I start giggling. Glimmer. Who in their right mind calls their daughter _Glimmer_? What's her sister's name, Sparkle? I try to think of something to say to that, but only come up with '_Oh_'.**Yeah.**

_Well, I'm gonna go and do some homework._

**Yesterday you said you finished your homework for the next three days though?**

_Yeah, well, we got more today. I'll talk to you soon._

**Oh.. bye Katniss xx**

_Bye._

* * *

"He _what_?!" Gale says.

"He got a girlfriend," I say, taking a bite out of my apple.

"What's her name?" Finnick asks.

I snort. "Glimmer."

"You're kidding, right?" Gale laughs. I shake my head and everyone laughs along with Gale.

"Bet for a hundred bucks her parents were high when they gave her that name," Johanna smirks.

Finnick nods and adds, "She probably bribed Peeta into dating her for a week or two, or offered him a blowj-"

"Finnick!" Annie scolds, and we all laugh again. Finnick's smile drops as he looks at Annie. An emotion I can't really name crosses his face before he puts on a bit of a forced smile. When he turns away, Annie frowns.

Suddenly the doorbell rings and I stand up, groaning as I do so. Gale mutters something about me getting old and I flip him off before walking into the hallway. I open the door and nearly slam it shut again out of anger, or shock, or I don't know what, when I see Peeta smiling at me.

"Hey, Peeta, what are you doing here?" I smile. He runs a hand through his hair – _damn_ – and then shrugs.

"Well um, you've kinda been ignoring my messages on Facebook for the past few days, and you didn't order pizza last night-"

"How do you even _know_ I didn't order pizza last night?" I raise my eyebrow and glare slightly. He glares back and steps closer, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe, a few inches in front of me.

"My brother told me. Well, he actually asked why 'that hot brunette girl' didn't order pizza.."

"And you just assumed he was talking about me?" I ask. He smirks and raises one eyebrow cheekily. I glare at him and he snickers, looking down and shaking his head. "What are you even doing here, shouldn't you be with Sparkle?"

"Do you mean Glimmer?"

"Sparkle, Glimmer, whatever," I murmur. He sighs.

"Oh, she's in town with her friends or something, so-"

"Oh, it's Peeta!" We hear Annie 'whisper' from behind us. Suddenly we hear a few pairs of feet running into the hallway, and suddenly everyone's standing behind me with their arms crossed, looking at Peeta with something I can only describe as a mix of annoyance, a slight bit of disgust and a whole lot of amusement.

"What'dya want, pizza boy?" Gale asks, slowly tugging me to stand further away from Peeta.

"Katniss was actually just telling me I could come in, weren't you, Katniss?" he grins. I roll my eyes and step back, allowing him to come in.

"Cheeky bastard.." I say under my breath, and Madge giggles and swats at my arm. We all walk inside and sit down somewhere. There's an awkward silence as we all wait for someone to say something.

"So.. How are you all?" Peeta asks, looking at all of us.

"We're fine, thanks. How are you?" Annie asks sweetly. Peeta smiles and says he's fine too.

"But, I was actually hoping I could talk to Katniss in private for a moment..," he then adds, raising his eyebrows at them slightly. They all just remain seated and stare at him. He looks at me and I sigh.

"Guys, can you go and wait outside or something?" I ask.

"Hell no, Jersey Shore is about to start!" Johanna says, turning on the tv. I roll my eyes and stand up, motioning for Peeta to follow me. We go up to my room and I close the door. He walks around and nods slightly, saying I have a nice room. I mutter a thanks and lean against my desk, crossing my arms.

"So. What do you want to talk about?" I ask. He sighs.

"Why are you ignoring me?"

"I'm not-"

"Yes you are, Katniss, I can tell you're lying," he says sternly, gazing into my eyes and for a moment the thought _does this boy ever blink?_ crosses my mind. I look down and fiddle with one of the old friendship bracelets Madge gave me for my birthday five years ago, twirling it around my wrist and remembering how proud Madge was when she exclaimed that she had made it all by herself, and even picked the colors and everything.

Peeta walks over to me and leans against the desk next to me, crossing his arms and mirroring my pose.

"Katniss, I don't know what I did or said, but can we just be friends again?" he asks softly. I look to my left and see him looking at me with what Finnick calls _the-puppy-eyes-look_. I sigh.

"Fine, but under one condition," I say. He frowns and a smirk creeps onto my face. "You give me a discount on my pizza." He laughs and leans to the right, nudging my shoulder with his.

"Fine, fine, discount it is," he grins. I smile and he turns, extending his arms. I lean into his touch and wrap my arms around him.

"I'm sorry," I murmur, the words slipping out of my mouth. He shrugs slightly.

"It's okay. Now let's go downstairs, before your friends start getting idea's about what we've been doing up here for so long." I lean back and laugh, swatting his arm softly. He laughs as well and grabs my wrist, pulling me downstairs. A warm, fuzzy feeling appears in my stomach and for a second I think that I could get used to this, this feeling, and Peeta touching me, and just _Peeta_, but then it all crumbles as I remember he has a girlfriend.

I shouldn't be thinking about him like I have been. I'll have to be his friend, and no more than that. I'll have to forget that stupid little crush the girls were convinced I had. We walk back into the room and sit down, chattering with the others about what we missed on this crappy episode of Johanna's favorite show. After a while Peeta turns to me and frowns slightly.

"Are you okay? You look like something's bothering you.." he says, his eyes crinkling at the sides slightly when he smiles. I smile back and shake my head.

"No, no, I'm fine."

_If only that were true. I'm in trouble._

_Author's Note: I'm sorry it took so long for me to update! Had a few busy weeks, plus it was my birthday so I didn't have time. And before you start politely complaining about how short this chapter is: I'm gonna try and update again before next Friday to make up for it. Also, I'll be going away next Friday, on a Christmas holiday to spend Christmas with my family in Ireland for two weeks (hooray!). So if I for some reason don't upload before then, have a Merry Christmas, try not to get too drunk -or do, as long as you don't end up in hospital- and have a happy New Year!_

Disclaimer (because I forgot it in the last chapter) : I do not own The Hunger Games, any characters, or any other stuff that were mentioned in this 2000-word piece about two fictional characters I'm in love with.


	6. Chapter 6

_hey Kat, wanna hang out? xx_

I look at my phone and smile, quickly typing out a _sure, where? xx_. Peeta and I had been texting each other for the past two weeks, during school time, after dinner, and before we go to sleep. We also hung out a lot, which isn't really helping the fact that I'm trying to look at him without thinking _My God that hair,_ or _Woah that's one tight shirt_.

A few seconds later my phone lights up again, showing me Peeta's answer, _I was thinking you might wanna come over to my house? i'm on my way home from school, i could pick you up? x_

I realize I haven't seen his house yet. A part of me is dying to see it, wondering what his house will look like, what his room looks like, what his parents are like-

_I don't know, Peeta.. x,_ I send. The doorbell rings and I walk downstairs. Just as I'm about to open the door, I get a new text saying _too late! x_

I open the door and see a mischievously grinning Peeta standing in front of me. "Too late?" I say, raising one eyebrow. He nods and I roll my eyes playfully. He chuckles and tells me to get my shoes on. I grab my shoes and put my coat on quickly before yelling "I'm at Peeta's!" to Prim and walking out of the door.

"So how was your school day?" I ask. Peeta tells me a funny story about how one boy in his class started crying during his Math's test today. I laugh and follow Peeta as we walk through town. After walking around a few corners and through narrow alleys, we finally reach a small building with a big sign above the door, saying _Mellark's Pizza's._

"So this is the pizzeria?" I ask. Peeta nods and I stand still to look at the place properly. You could tell it was an old building- the red paint was starting to peel and there were small cracks in the left side. "I like it," I tell Peeta. He smiles and grabs my wrist loosely to drag me inside. I stop walking again in front of the door and look at him.

"Are your parents home?" I ask. He shrugs slightly, a small frown creeping onto his face.

"Probably. Rye will be too."

"Is that the one that shamelessly asked me for a kiss?" I ask, my face scrunching up slightly. He chuckles and opens the door.

"Yeah, that would be Rye," he grins, gesturing for me to walk in front of me. "Ladies first."

I walk inside and a wave of heat washes over me, as does the smell of dough. I look around and find a man grinning at Peeta and waving. He smiles back and walks over, tugging me along.

"Hey son, how was school?" the man, who is apparently Peeta's father, asks. I look closer and realize Peeta resembles his father a lot- the eyes, curly hair, and big smile.

"Fine thanks. Hey, um, Dad, this is Katniss, she-"

"Peeta, there you are!" A loud shriek pierces my ears. I wince and turn around, seeing a blonde girl with ridiculously long legs and a mountain of foundation on her face waving excitedly at us- or rather, at Peeta. He looks at his father who shrugs slightly, murmuring something about his mother and 'wouldn't leave'. Peeta turns and smiles at her. She walks over and immediately wraps her arms around Peeta's neck, leaning in for a kiss.

_Oh great. I knew it was a brilliant idea to come here._

Peeta gives her the quickest peck on the lips I've ever seen. I'm not even sure if their lips actually touched, that's how quick he untangles her arms from his neck and takes a small step back. The blonde gives Peeta a big toothy grin, fluttering her eye-lashes quickly like there's something in her eyes, and then turns to me. Her smile falls as her eyes run down my whole body, landing on my face again.

"Peeta, sweetie, who's this?" she asks, twirling a piece of hair around one of her manicured fingers.

"Oh, this is Katniss. Katniss, this is Glimmer," Peeta says, waving hands at both of us. Glimmer smiles sweetly, tilting her head and sticking out her right hand. I eye her hand for a second before shaking her hand. Her nails dig into my hand slightly and I glare at her. She smirks and retracts her hand. Peeta chuckles nervously, looking around and wringing his hands together.

"Peetie, I just wanted to come and say hello. Like, I haven't seen you since yesterday! But anyway, I have to go home, Clove's taking me shopping..," Glimmer rattles on, "I'll text you later sweetie-pie!" She leans up on her tiptoes and smacks her lips against his quickly before winking at him and walking out, not giving me a second glance.

I turn around and look at Peeta with a look that could probably only be described as '_are-you-serious?_'. He sighs and picks up his bag again, gesturing for me to follow him. We walk into the kitchen and he throws his bag on the counter.

"Something to drink?" he asks while walking over to the refrigerator. I nod and he grabs some coke for both of us.

"Thanks," I smile. I take a sip and look at the table. The air felt _tense_ or awkward after having met Sparkle- I mean, Glimmer. "She seems lovely," I mutter.

"Who, Glimmer?" Peeta asks. I nod and he shrugs slightly. "I-"

"Peetaaaaaa- who's this?"

We both turn around and watch as Rye walks in and throws his bag in the corner. He looks at me for a second before snapping his fingers. "I know who you are! You're that hot brunette who ordered pizza!" he exclaims.

"Her name is _Katniss_," Peeta says with an annoyed tone to his voice. Rye grins and walks up to us, grabbing my hand and pressing a light kiss to it.

"Katniss, Katniss, lovely name, I'm Rye, nice to meet you," he smiles. I wriggle my hand out of his and wipe it off the side of my leg slowly.

"Uh, yeah, nice to meet you too," I smile slightly. He winks and then turns to Peeta again, who is currently glaring at him.

"Peet, I can't work tonight, you're gonna have to fill in for me," Rye says. Peeta's jaw drops.

"You've got to be kidding! I worked during your shift last time as well!" Peeta yells, and _wow, I should not find this as attractive as I am_.

"Listen, I'll make it up to you, it's just I finally got that girl to go out with me, and just, please?!" Rye begs. Peeta glares at him and then sighs.

"Fine," he says. Rye grins and thanks him before walking out. "Little piece of shit," Peeta murmurs.

"I heard that, but I'll forgive you this once!" Rye yells. I chuckle and Peeta looks up at me, anger still evident in his eyes and _shit did my breath seriously just hitch in my throat?_

He glares at me for a second before snorting and laughing as well, shaking his head slightly.

* * *

"Annie went out with the d-bag again yesterday," Finnick murmurs the next day, in my living room. He had been coming over quite often since everything with Annie happened, as Madge and Gale were always together and Johanna was often out. "And, like, I don't even know that because Annie told me, I know because I heard him boasting about it in the locker rooms today. It makes me so _mad_, he talks about her like she's an object, and you should just hear him talking about her body, it's disgusting, he has no respect for her at all, and-"

"Woah, calm down, Finnick," I say softly. He takes a deep breath and nods.

"Sorry. He just really annoys me, that's all."

"Yeah. I understand."

"How's Glitter?"

"You mean Glimmer?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"I met her yesterday," I tell him. He raises his eyebrows. "She's exactly what I imagined her to be like. Legs the length of a skyscraper, buckets of make-up, and a voice that sounds like a chipmunk," I say, face scrunching up in disgust. "I shook her hand and she dug her fingernails into me." I show him the small, light pink imprints on the side of my hand.

"Yikes. I can just imagine the typical Katniss-look you gave her," he smirks. I chuckle and roll my eyes.

"I might have glared at her, but she had it coming." Finnick laughs and we both take a sip of our drink.

"Hey, uh, Katniss?" Finnick asks, suddenly looking nervous about something. I frown.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something? Like, don't freak out, just let me explain, okay?" Finnick says quickly, twisting his fingers.

"Finnick, what's- what's wrong?" I ask. He takes a deep breath and a soft pink tinges his cheeks.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" He asks. My jaw drops and I retract my hand from where it was rubbing soothing circles into his knee.

"Finnick, I-"

"Not my my real girlfriend! Just, you know, when Annie's around, Johanna said it might make her jealous? And, like, I don't know, but- I just- Katniss-"

"Finnick, I don't know, I don't really feel like pretending to be your girlfriend just to get on Annie's nerves-"

"But _Katniiiiiihiiiiis_, it might be what brings Annie and I together, and then we'll always be grateful and when we have our speech at our marriage we'll thank you!" Finnick says, and for a moment I think he's joking until I see the dead-serious look in his eyes.

"Finnick..."

"Katniss, _please_, it won't be for long, only until Annie confesses her undying and unconditional love for me!"

I sigh and rub my hands over my eyes. "Fine, but you _seriously_ owe me one, Odair."

He jumps off of the sofa and wraps his arms around me, yelling "Thank you thank you thank you!" in my ear and giving me a kiss on the cheek. I chuckle and push him away.

"Oh, and by the way, kiss me again and I _will_grab a bow and arrow," I warn him. He grins and nods. Then he grabs his phone and texts Madge, Johanna and Gale, telling them the plan. He only gets a text back from Johanna, and Finnick and I think we don't want to know why Madge and Gale aren't answering their phones.

_From: Johanna, sent 17.03_

_youre finally listening to my advice. about time. start operation make-annie-jelly_

* * *

We walk into the cafeteria and Finnick scans the room quickly. "Oh, there's Annie, quick Katniss, grab my hand!" He says. I roll my eyes and slip my hand into his. People around us look at us and I feel my self blush.

_Only a week or two, Katniss. Only a week or two._

We walk up to the table everyone – including Annie and her boyfriend – is sitting at and Johanna cheers.

"Wehey, look at the cute couple!" she yells loud enough for half of the cafeteria to hear. I plaster a smile on my face and Finnick grins, shrugging slightly. Annie turns around and stares at us for a second.

"Are you two dating?" She asks. Jack wraps his arm around her shoulders and I feel Finnick tense slightly.

"Uh, yeah, kinda, since yesterday..," I say. She raises one eyebrow slightly.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought I texted you, Johanna and Madge at the same time?" I lie, trying to keep my face neutral. Annie looks at them and they nod. She looks back at me and shakes her head slightly, looking down.

"No, no, you didn't," she says softly. Finnick's eyes go soft and his grip on my hand loosens slightly.

"Alright, picture time, go stand next to each other!" Johanna says excitedly, gesturing for us to stand closer together. Finnick wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me flush against his side. I rest a hand on one of his arms and smile.

"Three, two, one..," Johanna says. At the last moment, I feel Finnick's lips against my cheek. Madge aww's and Annie and Jack are whispering to each other about something. Johanna smirks happily at her phone and taps for a few seconds. I sneakily stomp on Finnick's foot. He yelps softly and removes his arm from my waist. I smirk and step to the side, sitting down next to Gale. He glares at me for a second and I grin, mouthing _told you not to kiss me. _He rolls his eyes and smiles.

An hour later, when I'm back in class, I feel my phone buzz against my thigh. I frown and slide it out of my pocket without the teacher noticing. I open up the new text that just came in and feel like slapping myself.

_From: Peeta, sent 13.26_

_hey kat, saw the picture of you and finnick on facebook. happy for both of you x_

_Author's Note: Dum dum duuum. Johanna and her silly plans. Sorry for making you all wait so long. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and had fun on New Year's Eve! Oh, and thank you for all of the reviews, you guys are amazing! _

_Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine, nor is The Hunger Games, or any other brands named in this silly little fanfic._


	7. Chapter 7

"And then Gale said I was funny, and I mean, isn't that just really adorable?"

"Yeah, Madge."

"And after he was like, _Madge, I reaaaally like you_, and I was like, _Aawww, Gale, I.. _Katniss, are you even listening?"

"Yeah, Madge."

"No you're not.."

"Yeah, Madge."

"Katniss!"

My head snaps up and I blink a few times. "What?"

"You weren't even listening to anything I just said!" Madge pouts. I frown.

"Yeah I was, you were talking about.. Gale.. and stuff.."

"What's wrong? You've been acting really strange since.. well, since Finnick and you started dating-"

"Madge! Don't say that when we're out in public!" I shush her. The whole school knowing about the staged relationship was bad enough, but people outside of school _as well_?

Madge just rolls her eyes. "When are you going to 'break-up'?"

I shrug. "Finnick wanted to make Annie jealous so she breaks up with that other guy, but I honestly don't think that's gonna be happening anytime soon..," I tell her. She hums and then we're both quite for a moment. The silence doesn't last for long though.

"Oh, you know what Gale said yesterday? It was so funny..."

* * *

_From: Johanna, sent 13.52_

_whatup kitkat, the six of us are goin to peeta's in an hour_

_To: Johanna, sent 13.53_

_what? did he invite us or something?_

_From: Johanna, sent 13.53_

_haha not reaaaally, gale said 'we should eat pizza and hang at yours later' and he was like 'ok' so yeah be at peeta's at 3_

I chuckle and put my phone down, finishing my homework for the weekend and stretching. This would be fun. I hadn't spoken to Peeta in a week or two, because he had some really important exams or something.

I occupy myself by playing a quick game with Prim and going on my computer for a few minutes. At quarter to one I put my shoes on and tell Prim and my mother I'd be at Peeta's. I walk outside and shiver when the cold February air hits me. I wrap my scarf around an extra time and watch as my breath comes out in white clouds.

I look around and try to remember what way to go. After going through a few wrong alleys and ending up in a little place that sells fried dog ears, I finally see the pizzeria in the distance. I walk inside and find Rye standing behind the counter, flipping through a magazine.

"Welcome to Mellark's Pizza's, what can I- Katniss, what are you doing here? Coming to visit me, are you?" he grins, sending me a wink. I roll my eyes just slightly and shake my head, saying, "No, I'm here for Peeta actually."

"Oh, I know, but it was worth the try, right?" he grins. I chuckle and he points towards a back door. "Walk through there to get to the living room. Most of your friends are there," he tells me. I smile and thank him. I walk into the living room a bit hesitantly. I find Peeta, Gale, Madge and Finnick sitting on the sofa. Peeta smiles and stands up when he sees me. He walks over to me and bites on his bottom lip shyly.

"Hi Katniss."

"Hey Peeta." I smile. He helps me take off my coat and then hangs it up for me. We sit down again and Gale, Madge and Finnick say hi to me as well.

"What's up Finnick?" I ask, noticing the dark rings under his eyes.

"Rough night," he grumbles. Peeta frowns at both of us for a moment and I remember he thinks Finnick and I are.. _dating_. I put on a smile and ruffle Finnick's hair, giving him a look when Peeta watches the tv again. He frowns and then makes a 'o' with his mouth, his eyes gone wide. He rests an arm on my shoulders and I lean into him slightly. After a few minutes Annie and Johanna show up as well, Annie not really looking at Finnick and I. When everyone starts talking, I lean into Finnick.

"What happened?" I whisper. He just shakes his head slightly, his eyes glued to the television. "Come on, you should tell me, I am your _girlfriend_, after all," I joke. His lips tug into a small smile and he whispers, "later." I nod and lean back.

After half an hour of chatting and laughing, Gale says he could really eat some pizza right now, hint hint. Peeta laughs and says he'll make some and put them in the ovens. "Anybody want another drink while I'm in the kitchen?" he asks. Everybody nods and I stand up.

"I'll help," I say, picking up some glasses. Peeta smiles appreciatively and we walk into the kitchen together.

"So how've you been?" he asks. I shrug slightly.

"Fine, you? How did your exams go?" I ask.

"I was a bit.. distracted. But overall, they went pretty well."

Peeta pulls out some dough and starts making the pizza's. He shows me how to do it and I just watch in awe. You could tell he'd done it many times before; the first two pizza's were ready to go into the oven after two minutes.

"Do you want to try?"

"W-what? Me?"

"No, Santa. _Yes_, you," Peeta smirks. I chuckle and slap his arm softly. I stand next to him and he swiftly explains what to do. I nod and push my sleeves up. I start pulling and pushing and kneading the dough and after a minute tell Peeta that he can do it. He just laughs and takes my dough from me. I watch as his biceps strain against the tight, maroon-colored shirt he's wearing and his back-muscles flex- _Katniss, focus._

After a minute I help Peeta spread the sauce and put cheese and other stuff on the pizza. When it's done, Peeta puts the last pizza into the oven. He turns around and leans against the counter next to me.

"There's sauce on your face, how did you even do that?" he laughs after a moment. I frown and wipe the back of my hand across my cheek and he laughs even harder. "No, wait, let me," he says. He stands right in front of me and slowly puts his left hand on my cheek. He smiles and then slowly brings his other hand up to my face. He softly rubs his thumb against my cheekbone and my heart stops right there and then.

The smile slowly fades from his face as its replaced with another look I can't name. His thumb stays on my cheekbone and Peeta takes a tiny step forward, so our chest's are nearly touching. His thumb then slides down my face slowly and trails over my bottom lip. He looks into my eyes once and then suddenly his face is leaning forward, closer to mine every second. When his nose ghosts next to mine I close my eyes and try to calm down my speeding heart. Any second now-

"Hey Peeta, we were- oh, shit- oh my God, I'm sorry- Oh, you two- but- okay, bye!" Annie stutters quickly, looking completely and utterly shocked. Peeta and I both leap back. Annie turns around quickly and runs out of the kitchen. I look at Peeta with wide-eyes and see his red cheeks and darkened eyes.

"I'm, uh, gonna-" I stutter, and he just nods, and goes, "yeah, yeah, uh-" before I turn around and nearly run into the living room, panting and feeling like my heart might beat out of my chest. I sit down and ignore Annie's wide eyes boring into the side of my head.

"Katniss? You alright? You look a bit red and.. shocked?" Gale says. I let out a shaky breath and nod.

"I'm fine. I was just ki- helping Peeta make the pizza's!" I say. Everyone goes silent and raises their eyebrows at me. I look at the clock and stand up. "Is that the time already? I gotta get home!"

"Katniss, it isn't even four o'clock yet-"

"Bye guys! See you Monday at school!" I say frantically, quickly grabbing my coat and running out of the pizzeria, ignoring Rye's, "what, not even a goodbye-kiss?"

* * *

The next few days go by slowly. Peeta doesn't text me and I don't text him, Annie ignores me completely, and Finnick steps up the relationship-act, because _'we've already been doing this nearly two weeks, Kat, and Annie still hasn't told me to plan our wedding'._

Suddenly it's a Thursday morning, and it's freezing outside, and I just think '_no' _when I step outside and walk to school. I get to school and get greeted by a grinning Madge.

"Happy Valentines Day Kittykat!" she yells and gives me a big hug. My face scrunches up. I didn't like Valentines Day, it was just a day made up by companies so they can earn extra money by selling chocolates, flowers, and other gifts. But I smile and hug her back.

"Thanks Madge. You too. See Gale yet?" I ask. She grins and nods.

"He's gone to his class already, but he gave me a little card which said he wanted to take me on a date tonight," she trails off, smiling into the distance with a dreamy grin on her face. The bell goes and Madge and I run to our class. We sit down next to Finnick and after a short lecture start taking notes on History, or Biology, or whatever class we were at. Halfway through the class, someone knocks on the door. A tall girl with two ponytails and a smile way too bright for this hour of the day walks in, holding a bunch of roses.

"Rose-delivery!" she says happily. I'd forgotten that you could anonymously send a rose to someone this year. She starts reading out names and girls and boys go and collect their rose(s). "Johanna Mason," the girl says. Johanna smirks and stands up. She gets handed six roses and laughs, setting them on her desk and reading the little notes attached that had things like little, cheesy poems on them to cheeky messages like "_you're hot, and they say I'm cool. Opposites attract, right? ;)_" to cute, shy messages like "_hi, so, I really like you and I think you're really lovely, so, um, happy Valentines Day xxx_"

"Madge Undersee," ponytail-girl says. Madge stands up and grins when she reads the note, "_for my one and only. Love you Madge xxx G_"

The girl reads a few more names until she only has one left. "Katniss Everdeen!" she then says. Johanna snorts and I stand up with a confused look on my face. I grab the rose and read the note, "_I think I might like you a bit more than I should, Katniss x_"

I look at the handwriting and realize it looks familiar. I think about it for a few minutes before shrugging and putting the rose down. Madge gushes about how Gale's just so, _so _sweet for the rest of the hour, and then the bell rings and we walk into the canteen.

"Hey Kat, you understand Maths right? Can you explain this to me?" he asks when I sit down next to him.

"Sure," I say, grabbing his book and looking at his notes. Then it hits me.

It's Gale's handwriting.

_Author's Note: * hides from people throwing chairs at me * hiii guys, that was chapter 7! I hope you liked it. Sorry if there are a load of mistakes, I was too lazy to reread it and I just really wanted to post it (oops sorry). And thank you all for the lovely reviews- they always make my day!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games, otherwise I wouldn't be posting mediocre fanfiction on this site, would I?_


	8. Chapter 8

_From: Peeta, sent 10.38  
hey katniss i think we should talk x_

From: Peeta, sent 11.51

_katniss i really think we should talk about wht happened_

From: Peeta, sent 13.15  
kat pls answer we reaally need to talk xx

From: Peeta, sent 16.46  
katniss r u alright

From: Peeta, sent 17.24  
at least just let me know u arent dead or something

_To: Peeta, sent 17.25_

_im alive._

_From: Peeta, sent 17.26_

_thank god, but anyway, do you have time to talk?_

_To: Peeta, sent 17.27  
no, sorry x_

I turn my phone off and groan. What the hell was I thinking, nearly kissing Peeta like that? I had gotten myself into an awful lot of trouble. Annie wouldn't even look at me, I couldn't look at Gale anymore, (or Madge even), and I probably ruined Peeta and Glitter's relationship.

"Stupid Katniss, stupid stupid stupid," I murmur as I walk downstairs. The phone rings and I walk into the living room to answer it.

"Hello?" I say.

"Hey, Katniss!" Peeta says.

"Peeta, I really don't have time right now-"

"Katniss, just listen to me-"

"Bye, Peeta-"

"Katni-"

I put the phone down and sigh, when suddenly the doorbell rings.

"I swear to god, if that's Peeta," I whisper, walking to my front door. I open it up and find Annie.

"Oh. Annie. Hey," I say, a bit surprised. Annie stares at something behind me and crosses her arms.

"Can we talk?"

"Uh, yeah, sure, come in-"

"No. Let's walk," she says. I blink twice and nod, putting my shoes on and grabbing a coat and scarf. I close the door behind me and we both start walking towards the park.

"So. Cold, isn't it?" I say lamely after a few minutes of silence. Annie just looks at me and then looks back at her shoes.

_The weather, Katniss? Really?_

"Look, Annie, I know you probably want to talk about what you saw, and I can promise you it's not what you think-" I start, getting interrupted by a death glare.

"It's not what I think? Well then what the hell is it, because I think I saw you and Peeta kissing!" she yells.

"Well, technically, we weren't kissing, because our lips didn't touch," I say softly.

"I can't believe you! First you suddenly start dating Finnick – _Finnick_, out of all people – and then I walk in and find you and Peeta breathing each other's oxygen! How could you cheat on Finnick like that? He doesn't deserve this, he deserves someone who will love him, and _only _him, and I just- you- ugh!" she groans, stomping and looking like she wants to hit someone.

"Annie, please. Listen to me," I say softly, grabbing her elbow and making her stop walking. She exhales loudly and looks at me. "This is all one big misunderstanding. Really. I promise."

Annie frowns. "I don't understand."

"It's just. I can't tell you. I swear, I would tell you but I think Finnick would kill me," I smile slightly. Annie sighs and throws her head back.

"If you're lying or something, I will not refrain from slapping you myself," she tells me. I smile and nod.

"Fine. Now let's sit down. Why don't you tell me about Jack?" I say, grabbing her arm and dragging her over to a bench. "How come you were all _FinnickFinnickFinnick_ one day, and dating some jock the other?" I ask.

"He, um, he asked me out and I said yes?"

"Alright. Why are you dating him though?"

"I like him," Annie says.

"No you don't."

"Yes I do."

"No you don't."

"Is it that obvious?" she says softly, a small smile on her lips. I laugh and shake my head slightly.

"Annie, why are you doing this?" I ask. She shrugs and looks down.

"To be honest, I don't know. He just- he asked me on a date, and I said yes because he looked so sad when I hesitated for a moment, and then..," she sighs, "I should break up with him, shouldn't I?"

I nod and she sighs again. "Fine."

She grabs her phone and calls Jack. "Hey, um, could you come to the park? Yeah.. We, uh, we need to talk.. Alright, see you in ten minutes," she says, then hangs up. She rubs her hands over her face. "How am I going to do this?"

"Just tell him you don't think this relationship is going to work, and that you'd like to stay friends or something," I tell her. She nods and I stand up.

"Where are you going?" she says quickly, her eyes wide with alarm.

"Don't worry. I'll be... right behind that bench over there," I say, pointing towards a bench about twenty meters away. She nods and I walk away, crouching behind a wooden bench. After another five minutes Jack turns up. They both sit down and I strain to hear what they're saying.

"How was your game?" Annie asks. Jack gives her a lopsided grin.

"Won it. The other team was extremely weak, and they all looked like they were 12 or something," he says. He then rambles on about how great he played, and about how none of his team mates were as good as him. I roll my eyes.

"Yeah, um, Jack, can we talk?"

"We're talking right now, aren't we?"

"No, I mean.. just. Listen. You're great. You really are. You're funny and nice and strong, and I'm sure there are a lot of girls that would love to be your girlfriend," Annie starts. I nod to myself. Suddenly I hear a very familiar voice coming closer.

"But, I think she took it well? I was expecting a big bitch-fit, but.."

I whip my head around and watch as Peeta walks towards me, talking to- _Gale?_

I crouch more and try to hide myself, until-

"Katniss?"

I look up and find the two boys looking at me with matching confused expressions on their faces.

"What are you doing down there?" Peeta asks loudly. I put my finger in front of my mouth and gesture for them to go away. Peeta just frowns and runs over to me before crouching down.

"So, who are we spying on?" he asks, smiling and nudging me with his elbow.

"We're not really..," I sigh, "Annie. She's breaking up with Jack."

"Oh."

"So shut up so I can listen," I say, leaning my ear against the bench and trying to listen again. Gale walks over to us as well and just crouches next to us.

"What do you mean?" I hear Jack say.

"I just.. I don't think this is gonna work? Like, you're great, really, and I would love to still be friends after this, but.." Annie says. I imagine her shrugging and putting a hand on Jack's shoulder. "It's over."

"Oh. Yeah. Fine. Alright," Jack says.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow, alright?" Annie says. Jack nods and they both give each other a small smile before Jack turns around and walks away. I wait a minute until I'm sure Jack's gone to stand up and give Annie a thumbs up.

"You did great, Annie," I say loudly. Peeta and Gale stand up as well and Annie's eyes widen.

"What the hell happened behind that bench?" she asks. I roll my eyes and start walking her way. Peeta and Gale follow me and we all sit down.

"Sooo," Gale says, clearing his throat awkwardly and looking between Peeta and I. Peeta sends him a look that Gale ignores.

"Did you tell Gale?" I hiss softly. Peeta's eyes widen innocently.

"Tell him what?" Annie asks. The three of us look at her for a second before she goes 'oh'.

"Katniss, can we talk?" Peeta asks.

"Peeta, I really don't feel like it right now,"

"I really think you should talk," Gale says.

"Gale, butt out of it-"

"Katniss, talk to him or I'm telling Finnick," Annie says. My jaw drops.

"I can't believe you! I just helped you dump your freaking boyfriend and now you _blackmail_ me?" I say. Annie smirks and nods.

"I'm sure it's for your own good. Now go on, talk to Peeta, Gale's going to buy me an ice cream, aren't you Gale?"

"I, uh-"

"See you tomorrow!" Annie says happily, dragging Gale away.

"So. Hey," Peeta says after a minute, smiling at me. "Wanna walk?"

"Why does everyone want to walk while they're talking?" I murmur, standing up and leading the way. We walk next to each other in silence for a while until we reach a playground with a high fence around it. I lean against the fence and cross my arms. Peeta leans next to me and bumps my hip with his own.

"How are you?" he asks. I chuckle at the ridiculousness of that question and answer, "feeling fine, thanks."

"Good. So. About what happened at my house," Peeta starts.

"I'm sorry if I ruined your relationship with Sparkle," I say softly, looking down and kicking a pebble away.

"Glimmer."

"Whatever."

"I. Uh. There is no relationship anymore?" he says, his voice going high at the end, making it sound like a question. "I kinda broke up with her yesterday."

"What? Why?" I ask, looking up at him.

"Because she wasn't the girl who was on my mind all the time, and it didn't feel right. She took it pretty well," he says, "apart from the 'you'll never find another girl like me!' and 'I can't believe I ever dated you!', there was hardly any screaming."

I chuckle dryly and lean my head against his arm.

"Sorry. That must've sucked," I say honestly. He shrugs.

"Could've been worse, you know?" he says. I nod and Peeta sighs.

"How are things between you and Finnick? Did you tell him about.. you know?" he says, making kissy faces at me. I laugh and shake my head.

"I didn't tell him," I say. "And things are.. fine.."

"Fine as in 'actually good' or fine as in 'terrible only I don't want to say so'?" Peeta asks.

"Fine as in 'things are pretty normal'," I tell him.

_For a staged relationship, that is._

"That's.. good. I suppose? Don't you think you should tell him though? I mean, it would be better than him finding out later, wouldn't it?" Peeta says honestly.

"Nah, it's fine, I mean-"

"I'll even come with you to explain how it was a big misunderstanding!" Peeta says, and the look in his eyes is so earnest and sweet and _damn you Peeta_.

"Yeah. Okay. Let's go," I say. We walk to Finnick's house, which luckily is only a few minutes away from the park, and ring the doorbell. He opens after a few seconds and frowns when he sees us.

"Hey.. babe!" I say. Finnick just frowns again and then says, "oh, right, hey Kittykat!"

He smiles enthusiastically and gives me a big, sloppy kiss on the cheek. "Come in, come in. To what do I owe the pleasure, honey?" he says, wrapping an arm around my waist.

"Uh, Peeta and I have something to tell you.." I say. We sit down on the sofa and Finnick nods for me to go on.

I sigh. "Peeta and I nearly kissed a few days ago. It was a big, big misunderstanding though," I tell him. Finnick looks happy for me for a moment and Peeta frowns. I send Finnick a look and he blinks and then gasps dramatically.

"I can't believe it! Oh, my heart! The pain.. Katniss, how could you? Peeta! I saw you as a _brother_, how dare you?" He says loudly, putting a hand over his eyes and the other on his heart.

"Finn..," I start, wondering how he's able to be so amazingly _obvious_, "I'm really sorry."

"Me too, I'm so sorry Finnick," Peeta says honestly, and Finnick sighs, throwing his hands up into the air.

"Alright. Okay. I forgive you both. Just- _promise _to never do this again, alright?" Finnick says before pulling both of us into a bone-crushing hug. We both pull back and Peeta clears his throat.

"Um, I better be getting home. Nice to see you. And. Uh. Sorry. Again. I'll, uh, see you around," Peeta says slowly before turning around and walking out.

"Actor of the year, everybody!" I say sarcastically, clapping for Finnick.

"I was great wasn't I?" Finnick grins.

"You were terrible. Could you have been more obvious?" I smirk, nudging him with my elbow. He laughs and throws an arm around my shoulders.

"How could you call your own boyfriend terrible?" he jokes.

"About that," I start, "I'm breaking up with you."

"Katniss, please-"

"Listen, Peeta and I nearly kissed, and he broke up with Glitter, and Annie broke up with Jack-"

"Wait, what?! When did that happen?" Finnick practically yells into my ear.

"Like, literally half an hour ago. I told her to do it – yes, you're welcome – and watched as she broke up with him. She didn't even like him," I tell Finnick. Finnick punches the air and grins.

"Yes yes yes, this is great, no, this is wonderful news!" he says.

"Yeah, so, anyway, I think it's time we go our separate ways," I tell him.

"No, no! Please, just another few days! I promise I'll break up with you soon-"

"Hold up, I'm the one who's going to be doing the breaking up," I say. Finnick rolls his eyes.

"Not the point, Everdeen. But just another few days, then Annie will realize-"

"That you're soul mates, blah blah blah. Fine. But not more than a week."

"You're great."

"I know," I say, and Finnick just rolls his eyes again and pushes me off the sofa, onto the floor.

_Author's Note: not much chapters left now! Sorry for the wait, and thanks for all the great reviews! :) x_


	9. Chapter 9

"Where the hell is my popcorn?!" Johanna yells, "I literally put it right _here_ two seconds ago!"

"Shut up Jo, this is the part where the ship starts sinking!" Madge says, hugging Johanna's popcorn to her chest. Johanna grunts and flops down on the sofa next to us.

"Hey, Finn and Gale are asking if they can come over," Annie says, typing away on her phone.

"Yeah, fine, but they have to bring their own food," Johanna murmurs, eyes watching as the passengers on the Titanic start jumping off the boat.

The boys arrive a small ten minutes later, with no food.

"Goddamn, boys, can't you do anything?" Madge teases, giving Gale a quick kiss and ruffling Finnick's hair.

"Hey babycakes!" Finnick says happily, pulling me to my feet and pressing a kiss to my forehead.

"Hi.. sweetcheeks," I reply, pulling away quickly and sitting down. "Didn't you bring food?"

"Nah, thought we could order pizza," Gale says, giving me a small wink.

_Wait, what? What?! Why did Gale just wink?_

"Yeah, I feel like pizza too!" Madge says, pulling out her phone already and passing it to me. "You know the number, don't you, Kat?"

"Uh.. yeah..," I say, typing in the number and calling. Annie sticks three fingers up and I nod. "Hello? I would like to order three pizza's, one with cheese and tomato, one with cheese, tomato, mushrooms and salami, and one with all of that plus pepperoni," I say. Gale gives me a thumbs up. I tell the woman on the other side of the line – who is probably Peeta's mother – Johanna's address and then hang up.

"They should be here in about twenty minutes," I tell the others. They nod and we watch as the Titanic slowly but surely starts sinking into the freezing water. After a while the doorbell rings and nobody moves.

"I'll get it, shall I?" I say sarcastically.

"Yeah, go on," Johanna says, dismissing me with a wave of her hand. I roll my eyes and stand up, walking towards the door and opening it.

"Well hello there," Peeta says. His cheeks are red and his face is a bit sweaty, his hair sticking to his forehead.

_Oh._

"H-hey Peeta," I smile, "come in."

The two of us walk inside. Everyone greets Peeta and Madge slaps Gale's arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" Gale says.

"Pay the boy!" Madge says. Gale looks at Peeta and then looks back at Madge. Madge nudges her head towards Peeta and Gale sighs, standing up and grabbing his wallet.

"Here," he murmurs, handing Peeta a few notes. Peeta chuckles.

"Thanks. No tip?" he teases.

"You can watch the movie with us instead, you're shift is over now isn't it?" Johanna says. Peeta looks at the clock and nods.

"Yeah. Okay. Not for too long though," he says and sits down on the ground next to me.

"Put the movie on pause, I have to go to the toilet!" Madge yells, jumping up and walking out. Everyone else stands up as well and does their separate things, like going to get another drink or grab their pizza.

"Does your mother answer the phone?" I ask Peeta. He frowns before he understanding what I mean.

"Oh. Yeah, sometimes, if it's busy. D'you get to talk to her?" he says.

"Um, I told her what pizza I wanted. It wasn't a very long conversation," I say, and Peeta smirks again.

"What, you didn't tell her that we're going to get married and have two kids? Tss, I'm _very _disappointed in you miss Everdeen," he whispers, his lips lightly brushing my ear. A shiver runs down my spine as I feel my cheeks warm up immediately.

"I- you- uh, where's my pizza?" I stutter, standing up quickly and turning around so he can't see my face. Peeta laughs and runs a hand through his messy hair. I busy myself with pretending I'm doing something with the pizza's until Finnick enters the room.

"Finn! Hey, you," I say, punching his arm softly. Finnick frowns.

"You alright?" he asks. I nod.

"I'm fine. Perfect, in fact. Yeah. Come sit next to me," I tell him. I drag him over to where Peeta's sitting and make Finnick sit in between us. Peeta raises his eyebrows at me and I look away quickly, ducking my head into Finnick's shoulder. The others soon come in as well and Johanna puts the movie on again.

The movie's over soon, and Madge and Annie are crying. Even Finnick and Peeta have glassy eyes. I laugh and pinch Finnick's cheek. "Aw, poor little Finnywinny. Did the movie make you sad?" I tease, and he slaps my arm way playfully.

"Shut up, Katniss," he says, and we all laugh.

"Anyway. I better start getting home. My parents don't even know I'm here," Peeta stands up, "Katniss, could you walk me out?"

_For God's sake Peeta._

"Yeah, sure," I murmur, standing up and walking to the front door with him. I go to open the door but Peeta grabs my wrist and twirls me around before taking a step closer so we're chest to chest.

"Hi," he whispers, grinning.

"Peeta. Personal space," I try to say, but my voice comes out as a weak whisper as I take a step back and hit the door. Peeta takes a step closer, but this time he gives me a bit more space so our chest's aren't touching.

"You've been ignoring my texts again," he says.

"What? No I haven't," I say, my face heating up. He stares at me for a moment before snatching my phone out of my pocket and turning around.

"Hey! Give that back!" I say, trying to turn Peeta around again. I jump onto his back and try to wrestle it from him, but my arms aren't long enough. I watch as Peeta opens my texts and goes down to all the ones from himself.

"You definitely got them. And you did reply to Annie, saying something about Gale. So," Peeta says. I slide off of his back and he turns around, holding my phone just out of my reach.

"Peeta. This isn't funny. This is bullying. Give. Me. My phone. Back," I say.

"If you give me a kiss on the cheek, I'll give it back to you," he says, grinning like a little child.

"Peeta! I have a boyfriend!" I say. (Okay, maybe it isn't entirely true, but still.)

"It's only a kiss on the cheek. I've seen you give Gale's kisses on the cheek before," Peeta says and starts pouting.

"But.. that's.. different."

"How so?"

_I don't _like_ like Gale._

"It just is. Now give me my phone back," I demand.

"Nope. One small peck."

"Give it."

"Nooooo," Peeta sings, waving my phone at me. I groan and cross my arms.

"You are evil," I tell him. He grins and I stand on my tiptoes. I put my left hand on his shoulder and softly press my lips against his cheeks. One of Peeta's hands lands on my hip as I pull away.

"There. That wasn't that hard, was it," he smiles, giving me my phone back. I huff and put my phone back in my pocket. Peeta opens the door and turns around one more time. He quickly leans down and presses a kiss to my right cheek before pulling back and winking.

"See you tomorrow, Katniss!" he yells, walking down the street, "oh, and reply to my texts this time, will you?"

I close the door and refuse to acknowledge the tingling feeling on my cheek that stays there for the rest of the night.

_Author's Note: Sorrrry it took so long! I recently made a tumblr (you can find the url on my profile, although I barely post any thg) so I was pretty busy with that! And by the way, this chapter is a little bit shorter because I thought this was the perfect place to stop it. I'll try to make it up to you in the next chapter. Now, I think there will only be one or two chapters left. Thanks for all the reviews! :)_


	10. Chapter 10

_Author's Note: don't worry, this isn't the last chapter!_

"Katniss, there's someone at the door for you!" Prim yells. I walk into the hallway and smile.

"Hey Finn. What's up?" I say. Finnick walks inside and takes my hand. "Um... Finnick.. what are you doing?" I murmur as he drags me inside and makes me sit on the sofa next to him.

"We need to talk," he says seriously.

"Oh. Okay."

"Katniss, you're amazing. You really are. You're kind, well, sometimes, and, uh, you have a nice braid and stuff. I'm sure there are many boys out there who would love to be your boyfriend, and-"

"Hold up, are you breaking up with me?" I ask incredulously.

"I hope we can still be friends-"

"Finnick! You can't break up with me! I wanted to break up with _you_, remember?" I laugh. Finnick rolls his eyes.

"Good to know you're as broken-hearted about this as I am," he teases. I chuckle and shake my head slightly.

"So. How are we gonna tell the others?" I ask. Finnick bites on his bottom lip.

"Umm. Well Madge, Gale and Johanna knew that it was fake anyway, didn't they? We just have to tell Annie," he says.

"And Peeta," I remind him.

"And pizzaboy, yes."

"Maybe I should text Madge, Gale and Johanna saying we finally 'broke up', and then text Annie saying that I broke up with you-"

"Don't change the story, Everdeen, we both know _I _broke up with _you_-"

"Not the point, Finnick," I say, smirking and grabbing my phone. "We should tell Annie what actually happened though, y'know, when you two are dating. We should tell her the truth."

"Yeah, I know. But for now let's just say we broke up," Finnick says. I nod and open a new text.

_To: Badger, Gale and Johanna, sent 14.19 _

_finn and i are overrr i broke up wth him :)_

_To: Annie, sent 14.20_

_heyy, i broke up with finn, just thought u should know. we're still friends and stuff but yeah xx_

"All done," I say. A few seconds later I get two replies._  
_

_From: Badger, sent 14.22_

_about time omg x_

_From: Annie, sent 14.23_

_omg are u ok should i come over? why'd you break up?_

"Why _did_ we break up?" I ask Finnick.

"Um. You didn't give me any affectionate nicknames and that emotionally hurt me?" Finnick says. I roll my eyes.

_To: Annie, sent 14.24_

_idk, it just didn't really work out. we both thought it would be better this way. and u don't have to come over im fine haha but thanks anyway :)_

"Anyway, I-" Finnick starts, but gets interrupted by my phone buzzing again.

_From: Peeta, sent 14.26_

_heyy can u call me? xxx_

"Peeta's asking me to call him..," I murmur.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Finnick smirks, nudging me with his elbow, "go call your pizzaguy and order some love and hot make-out sessions and-"

"Alright, shut up, Finnick," I say as Finnick starts laughing. I roll my eyes affectionately and click on the 'call' button next to Peeta's name.

He answers after the first ring. "Hello?"

"Hey, Peeta, it's me," I say.

"Oh, hey Katniss!" Peeta says happily.

"Why did you want me to call?" I ask.

"Oh, I don't have a lot of credit left on my mobile, so.. yeah. Anyway, d'you wanna hang out later?" he asks.

"Um, yeah, sure, what do you wanna do?" I say. Finnick makes some kissy-faces at me and I swat him away with a pillow.

"We could go to the movies?" Peeta says, sounding very serious all of a sudden.

".. Only the two of us?" I say softly, biting on one of my nails.

"Yeah, why not?" Peeta says.

"I- uh, yeah, fine. Great." I stammer.

"Good. I'll pick you up at six. See you later, Katniss," Peeta says before hanging up.

"And?" Finnick says as I put the phone down.

"Um. We're- we're going to the cinema," I say slowly.

"Alone?" Finnick raises his eyebrows.

"Uh. Yeah."

"So you have a date?" Finnick smirks.

"No! It's- like, it's just- no, it's not a date," I say, my cheeks heating up.

"Nawww, little Kittykat's cheeks are turning red! Someone's going on a daaaate," Finnick sings. I hit him with the cushion repeatedly until he stands up. "I'll let you get ready for your _date_," he winks, "have fun! Oh, and, remember that safety always comes first-"

The pillow hits his face with a soft _thud_.

* * *

_From: Badger, sent 17.46_

_omg i heard ur going on a date with peeta why didnt u tell me?!_

I groan and type out a quick reply, _its not a date, who told u that?_

I rummage through my closet and sigh. It was like I didn't have any decent clothes. I settle on a green t-shirt that 'makes my eyes look extraordinary', according to Annie.

_Not that it matters what I'm wearing, anyway. It's not a date. It's just Peeta._

_Just. Peeta._

"Oh my god why did I say yes," I whisper to myself as I push everything back into my closet and close the door.

_From: Badger, sent 17.48_

_finn texted us all but omg its totally a date i wouldnt be surprised if he tried to kiss u again_

_To: Badger, sent 17.49_

_how do u know he tried to kiss me before?!_

_From: Badger, sent 17.50_

_oops_

I roll my eyes for the umpteenth time and jump as the doorbell goes. "Shit shit shit," I sing as I run down the stairs and grab my stuff and put my shoes on quickly. I open the door and curse Peeta for wearing a perfectly-fitting black dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top button unbuttoned.

_Damn_.

"Hi," Peeta says, his eyes raking down my body quickly before smiling up at me. "You look lovely."

"Thanks," I murmur, looking down and walking out, closing the door behind us.

"So," Peeta says as we walk around the corner. "Finnick texted me that you two broke up," he looks at me. "Why?"

"It just. It wasn't really working. We both decided it would be better this way," I say, reciting what I sent in that text to Annie.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Did you even _like _Finnick?" Peeta asks. I raise my eyebrows. "I mean, he doesn't seem like your type."

"What's my 'type' then?" I ask. Peeta smirks slightly and shrugs.

"I don't know. You tell me. Madge said you like guys with blue eyes," he says indifferently.

"When did she tell you that?" I frown.

"Oh, we text all the time. Madge is very funny," Peeta says.

"So if I understand correctly, you asked Madge what my type was?" I ask again, raising an eyebrow. Peeta's cheeks turn a light shade of pink and I smirk.

"Well, I was just interested. Like a good friend would be," he replies, making me chuckle.

After another few minutes we're inside the cinema.

"What movie are we gonna see anyway?" I ask.

"Um, I don't know, what movie do you wanna see?" Peeta says.

"Uh.. Iron Man 3?" I ask a bit unsure. Peeta's eyes light up as he nods enthusiastically.

"Yes! I've wanted to see that for ages now!" he says. I smile and watch as Peeta asks for two tickets to Iron Man 3. We both pay and walk upstairs. We decide to share a large popcorn as well. The film starts just as we sit down.

After about an hour, I realize that somehow, some time during the movie, my head landed on Peeta's shoulder and my right arm wrapped around his left one. I look up and see Peeta watching the movie with big, impressed eyes. He must feel me staring because he looks down and gives me a small smile. I smile back and watch the rest of the movie again.

Another hour and a half later, the movie's over. We both grab our coats and the popcorn and walk outside.

"That. Was. Amazing," Peeta says. "The ending. Oh my god. I can't wait till the Avengers 2 comes out in 2015," he rambles. I nod and smile.

"What are we gonna do with the rest of the popcorn?" I ask. Peeta shrugs.

"I don't know. Oh, wait, watch this," he says. He grabs one piece of popcorn, throws it high up it the air, and then catches it with his mouth. Well. Nearly.

"Well that was a fail," I tease, and he laughs, nudging me with his right elbow.

"Oh, you try it then, Everdeen," he says. I grab a piece of popcorn and throw it up in the air. I then easily catch it with my mouth. He stares at me for a second before sighing and looking down.

"Only beginners luck," he mumbles. I laugh and roll my eyes.

We throw popcorn into each other's mouths as we walk down the street, until we reach my house. We both stop in front of my door.

"So," I say.

"So," Peeta smiles.

"That was fun," I tell him honestly. Peeta nods and takes a small step forward.

"Yeah, it was. We should do that more often."

"Yeah. Anyway, I better go inside..," I say softly. Peeta takes another step forward so our chests are nearly touching and gives me a cheeky smirk.

"What, not even a kiss goodnight?" he says. I chuckle and wrap my arms around his neck, nuzzling my face into his hair and taking a deep breath. After a second or two I lean back slightly and give him a lingering kiss on the cheek. When I pull back completely he seems a bit surprised. I mentally note that Peeta looks amazing with red cheeks, and that I should try to make him blush more often.

"Good night, Peeta," I say. He leans forward and gives me a quick peck on my left cheek.

"Good night, Katniss," he smiles. I go inside and close the door behind me, slumping down onto the floor and closing my eyes. I retrieve my phone from my bag and open the text I've gotten.

_From: Badger, sent 21.16_

_so how was ur date? c:_

_To: Badger, sent 21.53_

_it wasnt a date madge how many times do i have to tell u omg_

I put my phone down and jump when it buzzes again straight away.

_From: Peeta, sent 21.54_

_you know, if you think about it, we just went on a date xx_

"You have _got _to be kidding me," I whisper to myself.

_To: Peeta, sent 21.55_

_ummm what no it wasn't_

_From: Peeta, sent 21.56_

_yeah it wasss, thanks for the lovely date Katniss, wanna go on another one tomorrow? :) xx_

My eyes widen as I read the text. I type out a quick reply before I can change my mind and then put my phone away.

_Author's Note; oooh cliffhanger what did she text back, I'm so mean. Anyway, thank you all for the reviews. I've noticed that literally all of you want this story to be longer, so I'm going to try to fit in an extra three or four chapters. I repeat, __try__. Not promising it will work, because I don't know how I want the end of the story to be like, but yeah. Thanks for reading! :)_


	11. Chapter 11

_Author's Note: there's some cursing (nothing terrible don't worry) and sorry for the overuse of italics x_

"Sooo, how was your date yesterday?" Gale asks, nudging me with his right elbow.

"It wasn't a date," I say, staring at the pen in my hands.

"Yeah it was, Katniss!" Madge says, "the two of you. Alone. To the _cinema_. He even walked you home, for crying out loud. Doesn't sound very platonic to me."

I sigh. "Maybe Peeta did text me saying it was a date," I murmur.

"What? Why didn't you tell us?!" Finnick half yells. I was 200% positive that he was more excited about the _thing_ Peeta and I had going on than we were.

"It's not important, anyway," I tell them.

"Did he ask you to go on another date with him?" Madge asks. I feel my cheeks heat up.

"Um. No," I lie.

"Yes he did," Gale says, looking me straight in the eyes.

"No he didn't."

"Yes he did."

"He. Did. Not," I say slowly.

"Yeah he did, he texted me saying you rejected him," Gale smirks. My jaw drops.

"You have _got _to be kidding me!" I say. Gale shakes his head. "That little.." I murmur, grabbing my phone and texting Peeta.

_To: Peeta, sent 16.21_

_i cant believe you told Gale that i said no_

"Why the heck did you say no?" Madge asks, biting on the back of her pen. Our homework was long forgotten.

"I just- it- I don't know!" I murmur. I look over to see Gale texting someone with a frown on his face.

"Who are you texting?" I ask.

"Peeta," he answers easily, putting his phone down.

"Wait, he hasn't texted _me_ back yet. Is he ignoring me?" I frown.

"Well you did say, and I quote, 'no thanks, I think I'm busy'," Gale mumbles. I glare at him as Madge gasps.

"Jesus Christ, Katniss! Could you have been any harsher?!" she half-yells. I groan and throw my head back against the wall.

"I have to apologize, don't I?" I ask. Finnick, Madge and Gale nod. I sigh and think, _way to go, Katniss._

* * *

_To: Peeta, sent 18.52_

_hey Peeta, wanna hang out tomorrow? xxxx_

_To: Peeta, sent 19.41_

_hellooo how was your day? :) xx_

_To: Peeta, sent 20.19_

_im really sorry Peeta xxx_

_To: Peeta, sent 21.37_

_im such a bitch, arent i? oh well, just gonna keep texting you till you answer xx_

_To: Peeta, sent 21.46_

_did you know that its actually impossible for bees to fly, according to scientist? xxx_

_To: Peeta, sent 21.53_

_i want pizza, i think i might just order some. you're working tonight if i remember correctly. xxx_

_To: Peeta, sent 22.09_

_pizza just arrived and your brother delivered. dammit. xxx_

_To: Peeta, sent 22.20_

_peeeeeeeeta madge just told me that you are texting her. rude. xx_

_To: Peeta, sent 22.21_

_don't worry i forgive you. because that's what friends do. forgive each other xxxx_

_To: Peeta, sent 22.56_

_im going to bed now. sleep well, Peeta xxx_

* * *

"That's it. I'm going to his house," I say as I'm walking home with Annie. "He won't answer my texts, or return my calls, or answer the messages on Facebook, and, like, it's so annoying! He's ignoring me!"

"Katniss.. You did the same to him, remember?" Annie says carefully.

"Yes, but that was different!" I say, crossing my arms defensively.

"How?"

"It just. You know. It just was," I tell her. Annie raises her eyebrows and I sigh.

"I'm a terrible person," I murmur, "Aren't I?"

"Well, sometimes.." Annie starts, before I shoot her a glare and her eyes widen. "Nope. No you're not. You're very kind, Katniss, you're not terrible," she coos, rubbing my left shoulder.

"Thanks," I mumble. I say goodbye as we both go our own way. I try to remember the way to the pizzeria and realize I have no idea if Peeta is even at home.

I walk through slightly familiar looking sidestreets and ask a person or two if they know where it is. After about half an hour of walking around I finally find it.

"Thank God," I whisper. I take a deep breath and walk inside. It's Rye who's behind the counter.

"Hey, Katniss!" he smiles. "I guess you're here for Peeta?"

"Uh, yeah," I say.

"Well he's upstairs, in his room, sulking about something. I don't know what. It's just down the hall and then upstairs it's the first door to your right," Rye tells me. I thank him and walk up the narrow staircase.

_You can do this Katniss. Just walk in._

I knock on the door and walk in, stopping in my tracks when I see a wet, bare back.

_Abort mission, abort the freaking mission oh my god holy christ _

Peeta turns around and stops drying his hair as he sees me. His eyes widen.

Peeta. Half naked. Only a towel around his waist. Dripping wet.

I gulp loudly and give Peeta a smile.

"Uh. Hi," I say. Peeta just stares at me.

"What. The hell. Are you doing here," he says slowly.

"We need to talk," I tell him. _Look at his eyes, Katniss. Not his chest. His eyes._

"I don't think we do, actually," Peeta says with an irritated voice. He runs a hand through his still-damp hair and stalks over to his drawer, picking up a shirt and throwing it onto his bed. "Nothing to talk about, the message is clear, Katniss," he says angrily.

"Peeta Mellark. We are going to have a proper talk," I say, walking towards him, "and God knows I'll drag you out if I have to," I glare at him, stopping when I'm only a few inches away. I inhale a fruity smell and realize it's probably Peeta's shampoo. We both glare at each other for a moment before he finally closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Fine. Can I at least get dressed first?

_no please don't this is fine_

"Y- yeah, I'll wait outside," I say, turning around and walking out. I close the door and wait for a few minutes until Peeta finally walks out.

"Let's go," I say, walking downstairs and grabbing my coat.

"Where are we going?" Peeta asks.

"For a walk outside. I've learned that that's what people do when they need to talk," I say. We go outside and walk to a small park that looks rather empty.

"So," I say. Peeta doesn't look up. "Let's talk." Peeta still doesn't look up. I roll my eyes and cross my arms. "Okay. Listen. I'm sorry. Okay? I'm sorry that I said no, and I'm sorry that I'm just stupid, and I'm sorry that I've ignored you in the past," I say. "But it was kinda mean to just ignore me, seen as you knew what it felt like, anyway."

At this he looks up. "Mean? Not answering your texts was _mean_?" he says in disbelief. I raise my eyebrows and Peeta shakes his head. "I can't believe you. You've ignored me twice. You've acted distant multiple times. You've rejected me. And _I'm _the mean one?" he chuckles bitterly.

"Excuse me, but I already said sorry, alright? I can't rewind and change the past. I was dumb, I know that-"

"You fake-dated _Finnick_," Peeta spits, and I stop walking.

"How the hell do you know I fake-dated him?!" I yell.

"Oh come on, it was obvious. But remember when we went to town, just after we first met, and you got mad at your friends because they didn't tell you Madge and Gale were dating? I felt just like that. But I didn't show it, because I care about you, and-", Peeta says loudly, but I interrupt him.

"You _care _about me? Then why the hell did you start dating Glimmer?"

"Because my mother _wanted _me to, okay?" Peeta yells. "Her parents own a big shop in town, and my mother wanted to become business partners. But why do you even care that I dated Glimmer?" he yells as he takes a step closer to me.

"I care because you can't just _do _that, show up at my door some night with pizza and act all friendly and sweet and fucking perfect with those _eyes_ and hair and freaking face and then-" I yell, when suddenly Peeta takes two big steps and grabs my face. He smashes his lips against mine and _oh._

It takes my lips two seconds to react and kiss back. I wrap my arms around his neck tightly as Peeta pushes me backwards until I'm up against a wall. Peeta kisses me roughly and presses his body against mine. "Katniss," he breathes in between kisses, "you have _no _idea, do you?" he mumbles against my skin as he kisses down my neck, letting me catch my breath.

"What.. what do you mean?" I pant.

"I've liked you since the moment you opened that door the first time you ordered pizza," he says, pressing our foreheads together. He presses a soft kiss to my lips as I frown.

"You- you liked me all this time?" I ask. He gives me a small smile and I chuckle. "You're so stupid," I whisper, connecting our lips again in a kiss that isn't as rough, and a lot more passionate. Peeta trails his left hand down my face and cups my jaw. After a few seconds he pulls back.

"You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that," he tells me. I smile and slide my hands into his.

"So how about that date?" I smile. Peeta grins and gives me a peck on the side of my mouth, when my phone buzzes.

_From: Finnick, sent 16.02_

_Annie found out. She hates me._

"Shit."

_Author's Note: Weyhey kinda cliffhanger-ish end so sorry for that. Thank you all for the reviews, and sorry it took a while, I've watched Sherlock and I haven't been emotionally stable since I saw the last episode. I'm hoping to upload the chapter next week before my exams start! _


	12. Chapter 12

_Author's Note: I'm so so __so__ sorry it took so long! Hope you enjoy, next chapter will be the last (and it will probably be 100% fluff oops)!_

"We have to go to Finnick's house first, see what happened and stuff," I say as Peeta and I walk side by side, "then after that I have to go to Annie's and explain. Finnick will have to come with me as well."

"I'll come too. Support and all that," Peeta says, slowly entwining our hands and giving me a small, shy smile. I smile back and lead us towards Finnick's house.

We're there about 10 minutes later. Peeta knocks on the door and Finnick opens soon after.

"Oh my God, what happened to your nose?" I ask, watching as Finnick holds a bloody tissue to his nose, keeping his head back.

"Oh. Annie," he mutters, stepping back to let us in. We walk to the living room and sit down.

"Annie _punched _you?" Peeta asks.

"Uhu. Hard, too," Finnick tells us.

"Does it hurt? Do you need some ice or something?" I ask.

"_No_, Katniss, I'm bleeding but it doesn't hurt at all," Finnick replies sarcastically before sighing and shaking his head. "No thanks, I'm fine."

I roll my eyes and cross my arms. "So. How did she find out?" I ask.

"Well, I had invited her over to my house to watch a movie and stuff, y'know, I was gonna ask her out later," Finnick starts. "So anyway, we started talking, and I said something along the lines of 'I hope Peeta asks Katniss out later', and she was like, 'you just broke up with her though', and I was like 'yeah but it wasn't real' and then I thought 'oh shoot' and-"

"Breathe, Finnick," Peeta says. Finnick closes his eyes.

"And then she kinda got angry and punched me and screamed that she couldn't trust any of us anymore. Oh, and that she hated me and never wanted to talk to me again. That wasn't very kind, seen as I was already planning our wedding and stuff," Finnick half-jokes. I sigh and stand up.

"Come on, wash your nose and put some shoes on. We better go find her. Did she go home?" I ask. Finnick nods.

"Yeah, I think so."

Finnick goes to the bathroom and comes back a few minutes later, muttering how his nose might be broken.

"Just hurry up, Odair," I say. He rolls his eyes and grabs his shoes. Peeta starts tugging at my hair until I turn around and raise my eyebrows slightly. He looks down at my lips for a second before leaning in and giving me a short kiss.

"Oh. Damn. Did you two just. Oh. You're together now?" Finnick stutters. Peeta and I look at each other and shrug.

"Kinda?"

Finnick just stares at us for a moment before grinning and grabbing his phone. "Oh my God. This is brilliant. I _have _to tell the others," he rattles on, his fingers typing out a quick text. He puts his phone in his pocket and grins smugly. "I knew you two were the perfect couple from the day I saw you together," he says, a bit of a proud tone to his voice.

"Uh. Thanks. I think?" Peeta says. I chuckle and tell the two boys to shut up and get out.

* * *

"So, Annie's also mad at me, right?" I ask when we're nearly at Annie's house. Finnick nods.

"Yeah. I'd cover your nose when she opens the door," he says, pouting and touching his own nose.

After another five minutes we're there.

"Alright, ready?" I ask. The two boys nod and I knock on the door.

"Nose!" Finnick hisses. I roll my eyes as Annie's mother opens the door.

"Hi mrs. Cresta, is Annie home?" I ask.

"Hello there Katniss, I'm afraid she isn't! This morning she said she was going to Finnick's house..," Annie's mother says, giving Finnick a smile. Finnick grins and gives her a small wave.

"Hello mrs. Cresta," he says cheerily. Mrs. Cresta leans over and pinches Finnick's cheek.

"Oh, dear, what happened to your nose?" she asks, frowning and examining the blue-purple hue that's blooming around Finnick's nose.

"Oh, um, long story..," Finnick murmurs.

"Anyway, we better go and find Annie. Thank you for your help Mrs. Cresta, have a nice day!" I say. We walk away and Peeta frowns.

"Why does Annie's mom love you so much?" Peeta asks Finnick. Finn shrugs.

"Dunno. All parents do. I'm just pretty charming, I think," he grins. I make a gagging sound and Peeta laughs, putting a hand on my lower back as we cross the street.

"So, where to next?" I ask. The three of us sit down on a bench for a minute to think.

"The park?" Peeta asks. I shake my head.

"Nah, Annie wouldn't go to the park if she's upset."

"Uh.. Madge's or Gale's house?" Peeta tries again.

"No, she isn't exactly pleased with them either..," Finnick says.

We all sit there for a few minutes, clueless about where Annie could be, until Finnick jumps up.

"I know where she is!" he yells triumphantly. "Follow me!"

* * *

"Finnick, _why _are we at the aquarium?" I ask.

"Annie once told me that when she was a child, she'd always come here when she was sad, angry, or just needed some time to think, because she loves the sea and seen as we don't have any sea close by, she just went here because there's water and fish at least," Finnick tells us.

"Do you happen to know _where_ in the aquarium she might be? This place is huge," Peeta utters as he looks at the map in his hands.

Finnick takes a look at the map and then smiles. "I know exactly where she is. Follow me, children," he says. Peeta and I both roll our eyes and follow him for about fifteen minutes.

"Are we there yet? Or are we lost? I'm sure we've walked past the seals three times now," I say. Finnick points towards a small girl sitting on a bench in the corner, staring at the clownfish.

"Annie," Peeta whispers. Finnick nods happily.

"Her favorite movie ever is Finding Nemo, so clownfish are obviously her favourite fish," he whispers back. We walk towards her slowly.

"Um, Annie?" I say when we're standing behind her. She turns around and her eyes widen.

"What are _you _doing here?" She asks, glaring at the three of us.

"We came to apologize," Finnick says.

"I'm really sorry we didn't tell you we were fake-dating, Annie. We were going to tell you soon, I promise," I say. Finnick nods.

"Yeah. Do you want to know why we fake-dated?" Finnick asks softly, sitting down next to Annie on the bench. He looks at her with big honest eyes, and Annie's glare turns into a look of doubt.

"Why?" Annie asks after a minute of silence.

"Because I was jealous of you and that jock-guy. Because I wanted you to be jealous of me. Because I've liked you since day 1 and because I don't think I'll ever like someone as much as I like you," Finnick confesses. Annie stares at him for a moment, not saying a word, before suddenly she slaps Finnick's cheek.

"Auch," Peeta whispers.

"Um, why did you just-" Finnick starts, clutching his left cheek, until Annie silences him by pressing her lips against his.

"I hate you, you stupid asshole," Annie murmurs inbetween kisses.

"Okay, gross," I whisper after a minute of watching the two make-out. "We'll see you guys later!" I say loudly, grabbing Peeta's hand and dragging him away.

"So," Peeta says, swinging our hands slightly.

"So," I repeat.

"That went..?" Peeta says, not finishing his sentence because he just doesn't know _how_.

"Good? I mean, if you forget the slapping part, it didn't go that bad, I think," I say. Peeta hums and drags me over to the turtles. We both lean against the glass wall and watch as the turtles walk towards the water slowly.

"I like turtles," Peeta starts, "they're all hard shell on the outside, but on the inside they're sweet and wouldn't hurt a fly. Reminds me of someone I know."

"How do you know turtles are sweet? They can't talk, Peeta," I say, hoping Peeta doesn't notice the blush that's creeping across my cheeks.

"_Katniss_," he says, shaking his head and smiling at me. He leans in and whispers against my ear, "you know, you're really cute when you blush."

"Shut up," I say, blushing even harder and pushing him away. He laughs and gives me a kiss on the cheek.

We walk through the aquarium together, laugh at the fish that look funny and watch a special show with the seals. Peeta also buys us some fries and a drink. After that we realize it's already 6 o'clock, and that the park will be closing any minute. Peeta walks me home, telling me some bad jokes all the way.

"Okay, okay, how about this one. What's a frog's favourite drink?"

"I don't know, Peeta."

"_Croaka Cola_."

"That's the worst joke I've ever heard," I say, smiling anyway. Peeta chuckles.

When we arrive at my house, Peeta sighs. "I better get home soon," he says. I lean on my tiptoes and give him a chaste kiss on the lips.

"Thank you for the lovely date," I say honestly, twisting the hair at the base of his neck around my fingers.

"Thank you for being an amazing datée," Peeta replies.

"Is 'datée' even a word?"

"..yes."

"No it's not."

"Who _cares_," Peeta says, kissing me again and giving me a tight hug.

"I'll see you tomorrow, alright?" he says. I nod and wave as he walks away.

I walk inside and grab my phone, which I had left at home. I open one of the 7 new texts.

_From: Badger, sent 16.22_

_Oh my god asldkjfsdklas tell me EVERYTHING!_


End file.
